Dr. Helen McAvoy:

We could examine it. I am not sure what the evidence is on restricting the hours of sale, if that is what the Chairman is referring to. We should examine the minimum age first. It is being trialled in other areas. There could be further developments on this as progress is made.

I wish to address inequality and the approaches that need to be taken in this regard. We need a broad social-determinants-of-health approach that seeks to improve the circumstances of those who are most likely to take up smoking. A particular issue arises with regard to the role of women, including mothers, in modelling smoking behaviour for their children. A conclusion we reached in our report was that there is a need to better integrate smoking cessation strategies into child and family services and early-years services that are now being located in certain areas, particularly disadvantaged areas. It is important to promote the welfare of families in which the parents are not modelling appropriate behaviour for their children and to protect children from the harmful effects of tobacco smoke in the womb – second-hand smoke – and reduce the risk of their taking up smoking. We need to improve the integration and referral pathways to smoking cessation, particularly in respect of family and maternity services. This would be a tangible improvement in addressing inequalities.