As expected tobacco control campaigners are doing everything they can to save Smokefree South West from the knackers' yard.

Last month it was reported that eleven local councils had chosen not to renew their contract with this tax-guzzling lobby group.

Tobacco control was never going to abandon their comrades without a fight. There's too much to lose. After all, once councils get a taste for pruning budgets (and pointless organisations like Smokefree South West), who knows where it will end?

Councillors in the North West might start to question the purpose of Tobacco Free Futures. In the North East they might ask questions about Fresh (formerly Smokefree North West).

If I was a councillor in those regions I'd certainly want to know what these groups do that isn't already covered by ASH, Cancer Research, the British Heart Foundation, the British Lung Foundation (organisers of No Smoking Day), Public Health England (organisers of Stoptober) and local smoking cessation services?

What is their USP? I'm damned if I know.

Anyway, in a document (Future funding of Smokefree South West) published this morning, the APPG on Smoking and Health (which is run by ASH) has come out fighting.

Or pleading.

Addressed to Sarah Wollaston, chair of the Health Select Committee, there's a tragic air of desperation as they urge Wollaston to help save this vainglorious body that claims to have saved thousands of lives since it was founded in 2008.

Basically this document represents one taxpayer funded group (ASH) lobbying to save another taxpayer funded group (Smokefree South West).

Naturally, in terms of funding, all roads lead in one direction – to the taxpayer. But if Smokefree South West is so necessary why can't it be supported the Royal College of Physicians or Cancer Research or the British Lung Foundation or even Big Pharma?

ASH and the APPG are almost certainly pushing on an open door with Wollaston. The Tory MP for Totnes in Devon is fiercely anti-smoking so I can't imagine it will be a hard sell to get her onside.

Nevertheless it will be interesting to see how she responds to special pleading on behalf of an organisation that exemplifies the phrase "government lobbying government".

You may recall for example that in 2012 SFSW launched a campaign, Plain Packs Protect, that supported standardised packaging. The campaign was inherently political and had one simple aim – to persuade the Coalition Government to introduce this highly contentious policy.

A few months later, following an FOI request, we discovered that:

Smokefree South West, a publicly-funded tobacco control group based in Bristol, has a current budget of £468,462 to promote the Plain Packs Protect campaign launched in January.

Hands Off Our Packs, the campaign that opposes plain packaging, has learnt that the budget includes: £100,398 for billboard advertisements; £127,685 for digital advertising; almost £100,000 for “community events”; and £141,000 for other social marketing initiatives.

See Public money used to lobby government on plain packaging (Hands Off Our Packs).

Unknown to us then, the additional value of Smokefree South West's contract with eleven local councils was over £1 million annually. And they want this racket to continue!

Here's our response to the news of their impending demise – Forest welcomes closure of anti-smoking group – to which I would merely add "Goodbye and good riddance."

To read 'Future Funding of Smokefree South West' in full click here. It's not long and it's worth a couple of minutes of your time.