Cumberland Council’s executive committee have approved plans to move towards a ‘smoke-free Cumberland’ as part of a new scheme in what has been described as their ‘first major public health initiative.’

A report delivered to the committee at a meeting in Carlisle on Tuesday, April 25 by Cllr Martin Harris, said that 11.1 per cent (30,000) of Cumberland residents are regular smokers and that approximately 10 per cent of mothers are smokers when they have a baby.

A national review said that all areas should seek to become ‘smoke-free’ by 2030 which would require a reduction to just 5 per cent of residents being smokers which would require around 15,000 successful ‘quits’ in Cumberland and no one else taking up smoking.

Whilst the report primarily focused on smoking, it recognised the issue of vaping, particularly amongst school aged children, with funding being made available for vaping harm training/support in schools and other setting that support young people aged between 10 and 16.

The scheme is set to cost £660,000 over a three-year period until March 2026 and is ‘more than quadrupling’ the council’s funding for anti-smoking measures according to Cllr Harris.

“We know that smoking remains the biggest cause of death and ill health in the UK,” Cllr Harris told the executive committee.

“As Cumberland Council has committed to put health and wellbeing at the heart of everything we do, it is fitting that we are more than quadrupling the funding for what remains the biggest cause of ill health, particularly in our most deprived communities.

“This is our first, but far from our last, major public health initiative.”

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The new scheme will see an enhanced universal pharmacy stop smoking service and the recruitment of specialist staff to help target the most deprived communities where smoking rates are the highest.

The report was also backed by the Director of Public Health and Communities for the Cumberland Council, Colin Cox, who told the meeting: “Smoking is one of the things which has got the biggest social gradient in health impacts.

“10 per cent of the population smoke overall but in some parts of Cumberland that’s almost none whilst in other parts its more like 40 per cent so it is a significant issue for social deprivation.

The Council has also committed to further work with Trading Standards to ensure compliance with age restrictions on vaping products to help combat the number of young people vaping.