Issue - meetings

To receive the Annual Public Health Report and endorse the Council’s approach towards creating a smoke-free Borough.

Councillor Kelly Middleton, Cabinet Member for Public Health and Healthier Communities, presented a report, which sought Cabinet’s endorsement and support of the recommendations of the Director of Public Health’s 2025 Annual Report, which were aimed at reducing the impact of smoking and vaping-related harm in the borough.

The 2025 Annual Public Health Report focussed on a smoke free ambition for Telford and Wrekin and covered the health and financial impacts for individuals who smoked, the effects on children and young people and vulnerable adults, and the wider impacts on the borough’s communities. The report also introduced key local actions the Council needed to take in Telford and Wrekin to make a smoke free ambition a reality.

Councillor Middleton said that this was the first time in several years, since the Council had had a dedicated focus on this issue.  She said that the report set out the scale and impact of smoking in the area and outlined how the Council could work together to deliver the Government’s smoke-free ambition.  She said that the report also addressed vaping, since it was recognised as a quit aid for many residents, but also highlighted the growing concerns around young people taking-up vaping.

Councillor Middleton said that, locally, the Council’s Healthy Lifestyles Team continued to provide excellent substance smoking support with new national funding.  She said the Council had set new local targets to strengthen links to tobacco dependency programmes in order that every contact with health services could become an opportunity to quit. 

Councillor Middleton said that the Council’s Trading Standards Team was working with the Police was tackling the illicit sales of tobacco and vapes, which remained a significant local challenge.  She said that, nationally, the Tobacco and Vapes Bill and the NHS Ten-year Plan created opportunities for the borough with more investment, stronger NHS expectations and a greater focus on prevention in neighbourhoods.  However, she said, the Council’s new targets were ambitious and to achieve these would require more referrals from NHS partners particularly from GPs in community care. 

Councillor Middleton said that the report recommended the development of a smoke-free ambition delivery plan, to learn from areas such as Sheffield and Greater Manchester where stronger partnerships had led to faster declines in smoking rates.  She said that the Council’s four key ambitions were helping more residents to quit; protected children and more vulnerable people; created more smoke-free places and strengthened enforcement against illicit tobacco and vapes.

Councillor Middleton said that Cabinet was being asked to endorse the recommendations and support the development of a partnership plan and engage the NHS and community partners to increase referrals and quit rates.

In conclusion, Councillor Middleton said that the borough’s health data was now updated live through the Council’s JS and A dashboards and reported on via the Health and Well-being Board ensuring the Council tracked progress throughout the year.  In summary, she said that this report provided a care plan to move Telford and Wrekin towards a smoke-free borough and protecting residents  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26