Written question asked by Ashok Kumar (Labour) on Tuesday, 21 October 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 23 October 2008. It was answered by Baroness Primarolo (Labour) on Monday, 27 October 2008 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Smoking

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what additional steps the Government plan to take to encourage smokers to stop smoking.

Answer: The Government have committed to developing a new national tobacco control strategy to build on the achievements made since the publication of the "Smoking Kills" White paper in 1998 (which has already been placed in the Library).The "Consultation on the future of tobacco control", which has already been placed in the Library, closed on 8 September and is the first stage in developing this new strategy. The Department is currently considering responses to this consultation.A publication date for the new strategy will be announced in due course.

Secondary information