Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the reasons for the high smoking rate in Barking of 18.1 per cent.

While we have not made a specific assessment, we know that smoking rates are higher for those who already suffer from poorer health and other disadvantages. The forthcoming Tobacco Control Plan will set out proposals and supporting regulatory changes to meet our ambition to be smoke-free by 2030.