Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what data exists about the proportion of excess mortality in lower socioeconomic status groups due to smoking-related diseases; whether the forthcoming tobacco control strategy for England will contain measures to address that issue; and when he expects to publish the next tobacco control strategy for England.

The independent review into health inequalities in England undertaken by Professor Sir Michael Marmot culminated in the publication in 2010 of Fair Society, Healthy Lives. The review identified the most effective evidence-based strategies for reducing health inequalities in England and made the following recommendation:

“Tobacco control is central to any strategy to tackle health inequalities as smoking accounts for approximately half of the difference in life expectancy between the lowest and highest income groups. Smoking-related death rates are two to three times higher in low-income groups than in wealthier social groups.”

The new tobacco control plan is currently being developed and Ministers will decide on an appropriate publication date in due course.