Former health minister and North Norfolk MP Norman Lamb has criticised Norfolk County Council for its pension fund's tobacco investments whilst at the same time taking part in a campaign to encourage people to quit smoking.

The Council is a member of the Norfolk Tobacco Control Alliance, a campaign group that has an aim to “make smoking history for the people of Norfolk”, which has recently launched a new drive to help people give up.

However, Norfolk County Council has around £45m invested in tobacco companies, of which around £26m is invested in four of the five largest tobacco companies in the world. These include Philip Moris International, Japan Tobacco International, British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco Group.

As the current Liberal Democrat health spokesperson, Lamb “wholeheartedly” supports new initiatives to combat smoking but described it as “an absurd state of affairs” when the council is also investing millions in tobacco companies.

“I appreciate that this is common for pension funds and that we shouldn’t point the finger at Norfolk County Council. But there is a clear ethical and financial hypocrisy when we are talking about bodies responsible for promoting public health. I do feel that councils should not be complicit in investment in tobacco companies,” he said.

Lamb added that he hopes to raise the point in a parliamentary debate next month on tobacco control, which he is co-sponsoring with MP Alex Cunningham and MP Flick Drummond.

A spokesperson for Norfolk County Council said: “We estimate that tobacco investments represent around 1.5 per cent of the Norfolk Pension Fund’s £3bn investments. Separately, the Norfolk Pension Committee is charged with overseeing strategies to obtain the best return on investment for Norfolk Pension Fund members and employers, while maintaining an appropriate level of risk.”

It is not the first time a conflict of interest has arisen from a pension fund’s investment in tobacco this year. In May members of the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) whose research is funded in part by Cancer Research UK, expressed outrage that the pension scheme is invested in British American Tobacco.

The annual report for the USS showed that the scheme invested £211m into British American Tobacco up to 31 March 2015.

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