Asked by: Craig Williams (Conservative - Montgomeryshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps (a) he and (b) his Department are taking to promote and implement the accident and emergency-based Cardiff model for violence prevention in England.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The Information Sharing to Tackle Violence (ISTV) programme is a Department of Health-funded cross-government programme informed by the Cardiff Model and designed to reduce knife, gun and all other violent forms of crime. It is a key deliverable for the Government in addressing crime.
Collecting data on serious violent incidents is a requirement on Type 1 accident and emergency (A&E) services. Non-confidential ISTV data is shared with local Community Safety Partnership (CSP) colleagues for use as a basis for crime prevention strategies. High quality information from hospitals can be used by CSPs to tackle all forms of violence through local interventions such as targeted policing or applying licensing restrictions to bars and clubs. The Department published “Information Sharing to Tackle Violence Guidance for Community Safety Partnerships on engaging with the NHS” (2012) which included practical tools and guidance for CSP partners.
The Department secured funding for the Violence Reduction Nurse project which aims to implement the ISTV data standard consistently across hospitals in England. Since 2015 this has covered the costs of 12 Violence Reduction Nurses who alongside their other duties work to set up systems within their own A&E and to support up to 20 more hospitals in their region to adopt the information standard. Public Health England is supporting the standardisation of data collection, including injury data, in Emergency Departments through the Emergency Care Data Set.
Asked by: Craig Williams (Conservative - Montgomeryshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his policy is on how the Government plans to transpose the provisions of the EU Tobacco Products Directive on restrictions on e-cigarette advertising into UK law to take account of Public Health England's conclusions on the level of harm e-cigarettes cause relative to smoking.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The Government recognises that electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) help smokers quit and the evidence indicates that they are considerably less harmful to health than cigarettes. At the same time, it is essential that we do not encourage smoking and that we continue to protect children from the dangers of nicotine. For this reason, the Department welcomes the new rules set out in the revised Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) which will apply in the United Kingdom from 20 May 2016.
The Government has taken a minimal approach to transposition of the TPD provisions on e-cigarette advertising into UK law, taking into account existing European case law. The Directive requires a prohibition of e-cigarette advertising in certain media such as TV and newspapers and online, but not for example on billboards. The provisions are compatible with the right to an individual’s freedom of speech and do not prevent individuals’ independent reviews on social media or internet forums. These provisions are enacted by The Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016/507 and changes to the Office of Communications Broadcast Codes.
The Department will work in close partnership with the Advertising Standards Authority and Trading Standards, including on the need for further guidance for businesses, especially in the first year of implementation to build compliance with the new requirements.
Asked by: Craig Williams (Conservative - Montgomeryshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will provide guidance on what communications by e-cigarette manufacturers will fall to be considered as (a) informative and (b) promotional under the provision of the Tobacco Products Directive.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The Government recognises that electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) help smokers quit and the evidence indicates that they are considerably less harmful to health than cigarettes. At the same time, it is essential that we do not encourage smoking and that we continue to protect children from the dangers of nicotine. For this reason, the Department welcomes the new rules set out in the revised Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) which will apply in the United Kingdom from 20 May 2016.
The Government has taken a minimal approach to transposition of the TPD provisions on e-cigarette advertising into UK law, taking into account existing European case law. The Directive requires a prohibition of e-cigarette advertising in certain media such as TV and newspapers and online, but not for example on billboards. The provisions are compatible with the right to an individual’s freedom of speech and do not prevent individuals’ independent reviews on social media or internet forums. These provisions are enacted by The Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016/507 and changes to the Office of Communications Broadcast Codes.
The Department will work in close partnership with the Advertising Standards Authority and Trading Standards, including on the need for further guidance for businesses, especially in the first year of implementation to build compliance with the new requirements.
Asked by: Craig Williams (Conservative - Montgomeryshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department plans to provide on types of e-cigarette advertising which will be permitted following the introduction of restrictions under the EU Tobacco Product Directive on 20 May 2016.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The Government recognises that electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) help smokers quit and the evidence indicates that they are considerably less harmful to health than cigarettes. At the same time, it is essential that we do not encourage smoking and that we continue to protect children from the dangers of nicotine. For this reason, the Department welcomes the new rules set out in the revised Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) which will apply in the United Kingdom from 20 May 2016.
The Government has taken a minimal approach to transposition of the TPD provisions on e-cigarette advertising into UK law, taking into account existing European case law. The Directive requires a prohibition of e-cigarette advertising in certain media such as TV and newspapers and online, but not for example on billboards. The provisions are compatible with the right to an individual’s freedom of speech and do not prevent individuals’ independent reviews on social media or internet forums. These provisions are enacted by The Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016/507 and changes to the Office of Communications Broadcast Codes.
The Department will work in close partnership with the Advertising Standards Authority and Trading Standards, including on the need for further guidance for businesses, especially in the first year of implementation to build compliance with the new requirements.