Judith MacMorran
Senior Health Promotion Specialist
Newcastle PCT
Newbiggin Hall Clinic
331 Trevelyan Drive
Newbiggin Hall Estate
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE5 4BS

Tel 0191 219 4845
Fax 0191 219 4823 or 4848
judith.macmorran@newcastle-pct.nhs.uk

Smoke Free Newcastle is a group of people representing statutory and voluntary organisations and is coordinated by Newcastle Primary Care Trust and Newcastle City Council.  It is carrying out a comprehensive action plan to tackle tobacco issues in the city. By doing this Smoke Free Newcastle hopes that the health of people living or working in the city will be improved and health inequalities will be reduced. It will also contribute to a better environment for all.

Smoke Free Newcastle meets four times a year to plan action and report back on progress. Its members include environmental health officers, health professionals, voluntary organisations, local councillors, the Chamber of Commerce and the trade unions. The group has terms of reference which are reviewed annually (click here to see a copy). It reports to Newcastle City Council’s Well Being and Health Partnership Group and is responsible for delivering the tobacco control elements of the Newcastle Health Improvement Strategy. The minutes of meetings are available on request.

Smoke Free Newcastle works closely with Fresh – the campaign for a Smoke Free North East.

Since its first meeting in May 2004, Smoke Free Newcastle has been implementing a comprehensive action plan. The initial plan covered the period April 2005 until March 2008 (click here to see the Revised Smoke Free Newcastle Tobacco Control Action Plan).This plan was formally adopted in March 2005 by Newcastle City Council and its progress has been monitored since then. The work of Smoke Free Newcastle continues to date. In 2008-9 the group have agreed a new one year action plan (click here to see a copy). This supports the Fresh regional business plan and is a precursor to a new longer term plan which will be developed in 2009 following the introduction of a national tobacco strategy.

To begin with Smoke Free Newcastle’s main target was to make Newcastle a smoke free city no later than 2010. It therefore focused its work on trying to protect workers and the public from the effects of second hand smoke whilst in an enclosed place. Since 1 July 2007, this work has been made easier with the introduction of a smoke free law in England. It is now against the law to smoke in virtually all enclosed and substantially enclosed workplaces and public places in England. All businesses must comply with the law and the City Council are responsible for enforcing it. For further information, help and advice contact Newcastle’s Regulatory Services and Public Protection department at www.newcastle.gov.uk/smokefreenewcastle or Smoke Free England at www.smokefreeengland.co.uk

The Smoke Free Newcastle action plan has targets on the key areas of tobacco control to;

1.      Build the infrastructure, skills and capacity in tobacco control locally to enable the issue to be effectively tackled in Newcastle by a number of different  partner organisations.

2.      Reduce exposure to second hand smoke by supporting all workplaces and public places to effectively enforce the smoke free law and lead the introduction of programmes to reduce second hand smoke exposure in the home and in cars.

3.      Continue to provide free NHS stop smoking support to people wishing to quit. The Newcastle and North Tyneside Stop Smoking Service can be contacted on 0191 219 5111 or log on to www.gosmokefree.co.uk for tips and advice on quitting.

4.      Support and develop public education and media campaigns which aim to give the public more information on the dangers of second hand smoke, stop smoking support and prevent the uptake of smoking among young people.

5.      Reduce the availability and supply of tobacco products and address the supply of tobacco to children by working with the Fresh and HM Customs and Revenue Service to implement a regional strategy on the counterfeit and smuggled cigarettes. Smoke Free Newcastle will continue to take action to reduce illegal tobacco sales to minors by carrying out regular test purchases of cigarettes.

6.      Monitor tobacco regulation to ensure that relevant laws relating to tobacco are effectively enforced. This includes legislation ontobacco advertising.

7.      Reduce tobacco promotion by collecting evidence on how cigarettes are legally promoted at the point at which they are sold at the counter, which can be fed into to a national consultation on ‘point of sale advertising’ of cigarettes.

8.      Undertake research, monitoring and evaluation of the plan to ensure that Smoke Free Newcastle delivers an effective programme of action which is based on sound evidence.