Agenda item

Emily Davies, Public Health Practitioner

The Chairman welcomed Emily Davies, Public Health practitioner at Buckinghamshire Council, to the meeting. Emily described the latest element of the smoke free and tobacco control strategy- the smoke free parks and playgrounds scheme, which was designed to make communities and environments where children gather healthier and cleaner. She stated how they were capitalising upon a shift in perception of smoking since 2007, as well as the growing evidence of health benefits, to make more open areas smoke free.

Other councils around the country had  been successful in implementing the initiative, and a previous pilot scheme in 2015 in Aylesbury  was positively received. The idea was to expand this scheme to include more parks and playgrounds, in order to make smoking less visible and acceptable to young people.

Emily listed a number of benefits of this scheme, including less second hand smoke,less young smokers, a change in attitudes to smoking, protecting the environment and financial savings through not having to clean up smoking waste.

She described the local approach of the scheme, whereby signage would be posted around parks and playgrounds, politely asking those in the area not to smoke. This would be a voluntary ban and would not have enforcement. Public Health would coordinate the campaign and develop a communication plan to inform and engage residents. Public Health would provide the signage and installation for free but sought the support of the Board to identify suitable locations and promote the initiative. Emily then stated how a toolkit would be developed to share with Boards, which would include FAQ’s, examples of signage and other ways Boards could offer support.

Emily also informed the Board of another initiative, Smoke Free Sidelines, which had been backed by the Berks & Bucks Football Association. A number of free resources were available for local clubs who choose to participate, such as posters and other assets. The goal of the initiative was to prevent smoking on the side-lines of football pitches where young people were playing.

Members of the Board questioned Emily on details of the initiative and expressed both concern and support for it.

A Member expressed support for the initiative and commented on the

difficulties with direct confrontation of smokers in inappropriate places. Also expressed was the hope for more mandatory anti-smoking initiatives, and an assurance parish councillors would help identify locations.

Emily responded to questions about the signage designs  and costings by describing the involvement of schools and youth clubs, who would help to design an appropriate sign, and reiterating that Public Health would be funding the signage She also stated that a behavioural specialist would be involved to ensure the usefulness of the sign, and that the local stop smoking service would be advertised on the signs.

Further details were requested by a Member on the cost of both the pilot and the entire project, and if funds could be used better elsewhere. Emily said that she did not have the exact figure but would find out and send to the Board.

The apparent lack of enforcement was raised by Members, as well as the prevalence of vaping, and the possible ineffectiveness of the initiative due to this. A Member commented upon the possibility of the funds being redirected to other projects such as licensing and prevention of purchasing cigarettes. The usage of schools to inform young people as a potentially more effective method was raised, as well as the existing deterrents on cigarette packs. Emily replied by saying that a combination of initiatives was necessary when tackling tobacco control. This was just a pilot scheme, and its effectiveness would be reviewed after a year to gauge any changes to public behaviour, however it had been effective elsewhere.

The Chairman also commented in response to the last point, saying that polite  advice would be effective and respected.