Council to PAY smokers £400 to quit cigarettes in potential national blueprint

SMOKERS could be paid up to £400 each in cash to quit for good.

A pilot scheme has been proposed after smoking rates stopped declining — with more than ten per cent of a council’s residents, including pregnant women, still sparking up.

The plan is to pay people £200 to quit, doubling to £400 for pregnant women.

If it works it is hoped the scheme could become a blueprint to cut smoking elsewhere in the country.

Smokers would have to take exhaled carbon monoxide tests to confirm they were quitting, and would be paid in instalments.

A report by Cheshire East Council stated: “Robust evidence demonstrates that financial incentive schemes are an effective method of helping people to quit.

“In Cheshire East, approximately 10.5 per cent of the general population and 10.8 per cent of pregnant residents (at the time of birth) smoke.

“These rates are similar to or worse than the national average and are no longer declining.

“Smoking is the most important modifiable risk factor in pregnancy and can lead to miscarriage, premature and stillbirth, and cot death.”

Around 78,000 people in the UK die from smoking each year, councillors were told.

The report added that smoking causes 70 per cent of lung cancer cases and is a leading cause of many other tumours.

A 20-a-day habit costs £4,515 a year.

The research said that for every £1 invested in such a scheme, the council would see a return of £4 from reduced need in other local services, as people quit smoking and become healthier.

The total budget for the scheme would be £116,500.

A committee will discuss the plan tomorrow to go before the council in July.