Request
Recently, information released in the UK revealed that the UK spent £2.7 Billion on smoking related disease, the same article said that smokers paid £12 Billion in Tax. Is it possible to inform me how much Jersey Health spend on smoking related disease (even a ballpark figure) and how much tax is paid by Jersey smokers who purchase smoking materials ?
I would be very obliged if this information is available.
Response
The Health and Social Services Department does not maintain data on what is spent treating smoking related disease in the island. To calculate these figures would be cost excessive.
This information is therefore being refused under Article 16 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.
The UK 2010 estimate of £2.7 billion mentioned in the request is based on the estimated cost to the NHS. This cannot be used to estimate Jersey healthcare costs because the two systems are different (NHS costs include primary care costs which are private practice in Jersey) and the most recent review estimated the cost of healthcare in Jersey to be 15 to 20% higher than UK costs.
Local healthcare costs due to smoking are likely to be proportionately even higher than those in England because Jersey has higher rates of cancers linked to smoking. The 2014 ‘Cancer in Jersey’ report showed that Jersey has a significantly higher rate of lung cancer and head and neck cancers than England.
Cancer in Jersey report
Tobacco traders approved by the Customs and Immigration Service in Jersey import their tobacco into a bond store on arrival in the Island. The duty is calculated / collected when the tobacco is removed from the bond for onward sale in the Island.
Private individuals importing tobacco in excess of the duty free allowance pay the duty on importation.
The detail of import duty in relation to tobacco is in the annex to the financial report and accounts 2014 page 166. See link below. The amount collected in 2014 was
£13,788,000.
