Council leaders pledge more action for a smokefree Hampshire

The County Council’s action plan includes working with local GPs, hospitals, social housing and adult social care providers, as well as the local voluntary and community sector to boost referrals into the county’s free quit smoking service - Smokefree Hampshire, plus more outreach work to engage with those who traditionally do not seek help from formal quit-with-support services. Going forward, there will also be greater support for pregnant mums, as well as help for children and young people to quit electronic cigarettes (vapes) via a dedicated, free service working through local schools and colleges. This builds on current work to create smokefree sites and provide resources for teachers, parents, and carers around smoking and vaping.

Leader of the County Council, Councillor Nick Adams-King, said: “Signing the Local Government Declaration on Tobacco Control further underlines our strong commitment to robustly tackle the harm caused by smoking, and to join the Smokefree Action Coalition - an alliance of organisations working to create a smokefree generation and reduce the harm caused by tobacco.

“While we’re seeing an overall decline in the number of people taking up smoking in Hampshire, we need to do more to protect our local communities from the many health problems it causes. That’s why a bigger part of our work in future will focus on younger people and groups who have higher than average rates of smoking in Hampshire.”

The County Council’s Director of Public Health, Simon Bryant, added: “Smoking is the single biggest preventable cause of ill health and premature death in England, costing the taxpayer millions and placing a huge burden on the NHS and social care. Therefore, helping people to quit smoking is vital and is one of our key legal responsibilities. This is why, earlier this summer, we announced we would be spending up to £23million on a new, seven-year stop smoking contract from April 2025 to support Hampshire smokers to quit, as well as prevent people starting in the first place.” 

The County Council’s current commissioned service, Smokefree Hampshire, offers people free, personalised stop smoking support - whether with the help of an advisor or via a digital coaching app. 

In 2022, it was estimated that 10.5% of adults living in Hampshire smoked. Around 4,500 Hampshire residents die because of smoking each year, with a further 8,600 admitted to hospital.