British American Tobacco’s attempt to win public health contracts so that its e-cigarettes can be promoted as smoking cessation aids has been branded “a disgrace” by the public health minister.

Emails obtained under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that the multinational tobacco giant and Birmingham city council are piloting a project to promote BAT’s vaping products to smokers who want to kick the habit. The emails show that, while the council refused to allow BAT to present the deal as a partnership, the company approached other local authorities on the back of its work with Birmingham as it touted for more business with the public sector.

The revelations have angered health campaigners, who said the council breached local government guidelines aimed at regulating the role of the tobacco industry in public health.

Steve Brine, public health minister, said: “Stop-smoking services exist to save lives – it is a disgrace that British American Tobacco is seeking to exploit them for its own profit. I am committed to working towards a smoke-free generation – and councils play a vital role in this – but we have a duty to protect our public health services from the commercial interests of the tobacco industry.”

The deal has raised fresh concerns over big tobacco’s attempts to cultivate new relationships with the public sector via e-cigarettes. Philip Morris International, the maker of Marlboro, was attacked earlier this year when it offered to help NHS staff quit smoking by providing them with smoke-free replacement products.

Under the Birmingham scheme, pharmacists provide smokers keen to quit with a BAT e-cigarette starter kit paid for by the council. The kits contain an ePen which works only with BAT products.

Emails seen by the Observer show that despite being refused permission to present the deal as a partnership, BAT went to other councils claiming “we have been working in partnership with Birmingham city council”.

One email from BAT’s external affairs manager requesting a meeting with another council attached a copy of a presentation prepared by Birmingham that “summarises their trial project and its positive results and includes reasons why they opted to work with BAT”. Others show that BAT approached Gloucestershire and Isle of Wight councils. The company also met Somerset Partnership NHS Trust and Lancashire and Leicester councils.

Health campaigners said Birmingham’s actions were in breach of guidelines which stipulate that the tobacco industry “must not be a partner in any initiative linked to setting or implementing public health policies” and that all interactions between both sides must be transparent.

These companies have no interest in a ‘smoke free future’ or the health of their customers Neil W Schluger, senior scientist

“Birmingham signed the local government declaration on tobacco control, promising to protect its public health policies from the commercial and vested interests of the tobacco industry,” said Deborah Arnott chief executive of the charity Action on Smoking and Health (Ash). “That should have prevented any involvement with BAT on the e-cigarette pilot, which BAT has misrepresented as a ‘partnership’ in its efforts to gain access to other local authorities up and down the country. Birmingham’s experience is a salutary warning to all local authorities that any engagement with tobacco manufacturers should be avoided unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

A BAT spokesman said: “We understand the pilot scheme has been a huge success, with many participants making a switch from cigarettes, which is great news for them, public health and in line with government health policy.”

But Neil W Schluger, senior adviser for science at Vital Strategies, a global health organisation, said public bodies needed to recognise big tobacco’s use of e-cigarettes as a “Trojan horse”.

“Despite a billion-dollar PR campaign and a raft of new products, these companies have no interest in a ‘smoke free future’ or the health of their customers,” Schluger said. “Their one motivation is profit and this means delaying, derailing and undermining strong tobacco control policies that deter smoking and impede the industry from hooking a new generation on addictive combustible and smokeless products.”

Becky Pollard, Birmingham city’s interim director of public health, said: “We remain committed to assessing the potential for e-cigarettes in our smoking cessation work but are now urgently reviewing this pilot scheme to ensure that in future this work complies with our commitments under the local government declaration on tobacco control and the framework convention on tobacco control.”

Gillian Golden, chief executive of the Independent British Vape Trade Association, questioned why Birmingham had chosen BAT as its partner for the pilot.

“Any local authority or NHS trust entering into a monopoly arrangement with tobacco companies could be seen to be supporting the companies responsible for the harms of smoking in the first place,” Golden said.