Fresh and Balance respond to Budget announcements on increase in tobacco and alcohol prices
Fresh and Balance the regional tobacco and alcohol programme for the North East has responded to increases in both tobacco and alcohol duty increases in the budget.
It comes as the Chancellor announced tax on cigarettes up by 95p per pack and £1.75 per 30g of tobacco and the first rise in alcohol duty in a decade, raising most duties at the rate of inflation.
Smoking costs the North East an estimated £887 million a year in healthcare, social care costs, sickness, lost productivity and lost earnings while alcohol is estimated to cost the region over £1 billion through hospital admissions, crime and disorder, sickness, absenteeism and lost productivity.
Ailsa Rutter OBE, Director of Fresh and Balance, said:
“We recognise that raising the prices of tobacco might not be welcomed by everybody. But we also know that most smokers would like to be able to quit and that price is one of the biggest motivators to quit smoking or switch to vaping which is less harmful and also cheaper. There is help for smokers to stop and it can take a few tries before you might manage to quit for good and we have lots of tips and advice at www.freshquit.co.uk.
“The increase in tobacco taxes in the budget will result over time in more people trying to quit, fewer children starting to smoke and fewer cases of lung cancer on our hospital wards. No other product on our shop shelves kills at least one in two customers…which is what tobacco does to smokers.
“Smoking is still the leading cause of preventable illness and death, taking 10 years off the average life of someone who smokes. It has killed over 117,000 people in the North East since the year 2000 and despite seeing some of the biggest falls in smoking, around 314,000 people still smoke in our region.
She added: “Smoking still costs the country far more than it generates in tax – a staggering £21 billion cost to our businesses, the NHS and to local authorities compared to £11bn raised in taxes.
“But more action is still urgent. We’re now urging the government to come up with a fully funded national tobacco control plan which includes making tobacco companies accountable to pay a levy for prevention and support for smokers to quit.”
Susan Taylor, Head of Alcohol Policy for Balance, said: “We very much welcome today’s announcement by the Chancellor that most alcohol duties will rise in line with inflation, along with measures which will decrease the differential between the on and off trade. This will help raise much needed revenue for vital public services such the NHS, which is currently under immense pressure.
“The North East has the highest rate of alcohol- specific deaths in England, and it is vital that we take urgent action to tackle alcohol-fuelled health inequalities and wider harms.
Alcohol is too affordable, too available and too heavily promoted by a multi-billion pound industry and the Chancellor’s statements today are a welcome first step in tackling the alcohol crisis facing the country.
“We’re now urging the government to carry out an independent, evidence-based review of alcohol harms”.