PUBLIC SECTOR INVESTMENTS IN TOBACCO FIRMS

That this House notes with concern that English local authorities, which took over public health functions from the NHS in April, invest over £1.6 billion in tobacco firms such as British American Tobacco and Philip Morris through their pension funds; further notes that smoking causes more preventable deaths than anything else, nearly 80,000 in England during 2011; believes that these investments run counter to the duty given to each council to improve the health of people in its area under the Health and Social Care Act 2012; welcomes Public Health England's call for councils to divest from tobacco as part of their commitments under the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control; urges local authority pension fund managers to review their tobacco investments in light of ethical concerns and the high-risk nature of tobacco investments; calls on the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health to send a letter to each English council leader urging them to divest from tobacco firms; and further calls on the Government to bring forward legislation to prohibit public sector organisations from investing directly in tobacco companies, in order to meet the letter and spirit of the UK commitment to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.