Smoking should be eradicated in England by 2030, ministers are set to urge.

The Government will vow to get all smokers to either quit the habit entirely or switch to e-cigarettes within the next 11 years.

Under leaked plans seen by the Daily Mail, tobacco firms would be forced to pay the cost of helping people stop smoking instead of over-stretched local health services.

Smoking rates in Britain have halved in the last 35 years to become one of the lowest in Europe, with fewer than one in six adults now taking up the habit. But health chiefs will promise to ‘finish the job’ by getting rid of all smoking [File photo]

And leaflets giving advice on how to quit would have to be inserted into every cigarette packet.

Ministers will also pledge a crackdown on cheap cigarettes sold on the black market.

The target to make the country smoke-free by 2030 will be announced by Health Secretary Matt Hancock next week as he unveils a Green Paper looking at how prevention is better than cure.

The Government will also commit to launching a call for independent evidence to assess how effective heated tobacco products are or not in helping people quit smoking and reducing harm to health

Smoking rates in Britain have halved in the last 35 years to become one of the lowest in Europe, with fewer than one in six adults now taking up the habit. But health chiefs will promise to ‘finish the job’ by getting rid of all smoking.

In the blueprint they will say: ‘The gains in tobacco control have been hard-won, and there’s still much to do.

‘For the 15 per cent of adults who are not yet smoke-free, smoking is the leading cause of ill-health and early death, and a major cause of inequalities. That’s why the Government wants to finish the job.’

The document says the ambition to go ‘smoke-free’ by 2030 will be ‘extremely challenging’ as although smoking rates are falling overall they remain ‘stubbornly high’ for certain groups such as manual workers and those who are LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender).

Across the country, 31 per cent of social housing tenants are estimated to be smokers.

Rates are also much higher in areas of deprivation. In Blackpool, one in four pregnant women smoke, while in Westminster it is one in 50.

‘Tackling these inequalities is the core challenge in the years ahead. If we are to achieve this vision of a smoke-free future, we need bold action to both discourage people from starting in the first place, and to support smokers to quit,’ the paper says.

At the moment, help to quit smoking is mostly delivered by the NHS or local authorities paid for through general taxation.

But ‘given the pressure on local budgets’ ministers will commit to finding other ways of ensuring people can get the help they need.

One of the options to be considered is forcing tobacco companies to pay a levy towards the cost, as is already the case in France and the USA.

Ministers will pledge to look at changing the law so that information on quitting has to be inserted in all tobacco products.

Under leaked plans seen by the Daily Mail, tobacco firms would be forced to pay the cost of helping people stop smoking instead of over-stretched local health services. And leaflets giving advice on how to quit would have to be inserted into every cigarette packet [File photo]

For example, manufacturers could be forced to put advice leaflets in packs in place of old-style cigarette cards.

The Government will also commit to launching a call for independent evidence to assess how effective heated tobacco products are or not in helping people quit smoking and reducing harm to health.

Britain currently has the second-lowest smoking rates in Europe after Sweden. Figures from 2017 show that 14.9 per cent of adults are currently classed as smokers, compared to 15.5 per cent in 2016 and 19.8 per cent in 2011.

The Government already had a goal to reduce smoking rates to 12 per cent in adults by 2022.

The plan to eliminate smoking comes after decades of action including a ban on TV advertising for cigarettes in 1965; all printed advertising in 2003 and sports sponsorship in 2005.

The ban on smoking in public places was introduced in 2007, while plain cigarette packaging became mandatory in 2016.