Found: For example, the Tobacco and Vapes Bill was introduced in March 2024 and legislates UK-wide.

Found: Committee to The Rt Hon Victoria Atkins MP Secretary of State for Health and Social Care regarding the Tobacco

Found: Downstairs on the main channel at half-past 1 there will be the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, where people

Found: We need to finish, but I know you will want to discuss this, Secretary of State: the Tobacco and

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she plans to publish a response to her Department's consultation on Mandating quit information messages inside tobacco packs, which closed on 10 October 2023.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Smoking is responsible for approximately 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom, and causes around one in four cancer deaths in the UK. It also costs our country £17 billion a year, and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service. Alongside creating the first smokefree generation in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, we are also scaling up our efforts to support existing smokers in quitting. We have provided an additional £70 million per year to local authority led stop smoking services, and we are investing in a new incentives programme to support pregnant women to quit. We are also providing £15 million a year to fund anti-smoking campaigns.

The Government ran a consultation on mandating informative messages about quitting smoking inside tobacco packs, which was open from 14 August 2023 to 10 October 2023. This included proposed inserts on a number of themes related to stopping smoking, such as benefits to physical and mental health, financial benefits, and how to access stop-smoking aids. We will aim to publish the response to this consultation in this parliamentary session.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of harm reduction approaches for people using tobacco and vaping products to end their dependencies.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Smoking is responsible for approximately 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom, and causes around one in four cancer deaths in the UK. It also costs our country £17 billion a year, and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service. Smoking is an addiction and there is no liberty in addiction. It causes harm to not only to the smoker but to the whole of society. That is why we have introduced the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, to create the first smokefree generation and enable us to further crack down on youth vaping. In addition, we are investing an additional £70 million per year, over five years, to support local authority commissioned stop smoking services. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is available at the following link:

https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3703.

Quitting smoking completely, immediately, and permanently is the best thing a smoker can do for their health, and smokers are three times as likely to succeed with stop smoking services (SSS) when compared to an unsupported quit attempt. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published recommendations on supporting people who do not want, or are not ready, to stop smoking in one go, to reduce the harm from smoking. The NICE’s guidance advises that the health benefits from reducing smoking are unclear, but if smokers reduce their smoking now, they are more likely to stop smoking in the future.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help ensure that lobbying by the tobacco industry does not undermine future public health policies aimed at reducing smoking rates.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Smoking is responsible for approximately 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom, and causes around one in four cancer deaths in the UK. It also costs our country £17 billion a year, and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service. Smoking is an addiction, and there is no liberty in addiction. It causes harm to not only the smoker, but to society as a whole. That is why we have introduced the Tobacco and Vapes Bill to create the first smokefree generation, and enable us to further crack down on youth vaping. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is available at the following link:

https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3703

The UK is a party to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, and under Article 5.3 has an obligation to protect the development of public health policy from the vested interests of the tobacco industry. As a world leader in tobacco control, the Government takes this commitment very seriously. In 2023, the Department published guidance for Government engagement with the tobacco industry, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protocol-for-engagement-with-stakeholders-with-links-to-the-tobacco-industry/guidance-for-government-engagement-with-the-tobacco-industry

The Department regularly publishes correspondence from, or to, those with links to the tobacco industry, and it is available at the following link:

https://khub.net/web/phe-national/public-library/-/document_library/v2WsRK3ZlEig/view/394794557

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of banning the use of vapes in (a) public spaces, (b) bars and (c) vehicles with child passengers.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Vaping can be an effective tool for adult smokers to quit smoking. However, the health advice is clear, if you don’t smoke, don’t vape, and children should never vape. This is why the Tobacco and Vapes Bill will give us powers to crack down on child friendly flavours and packaging, and to change the way vapes are displayed in shops, measures on which we will shortly consult.

Inhaling anything other than fresh air may have long term health effects. Evidence on the harm from exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke is well established and because of its carcinogenic content there is no safe level of exposure. Breathing in other people’s tobacco smoke is known to cause a range of health issues. However, there is currently no evidence to suggest that second-hand vapour causes wider health harms in the way tobacco smoke does. Therefore, the Government has no plans to introduce restrictions on where people can vape.

However, many public venues and spaces have their own policies on vaping. For example, most hospitals and public transport have banned vaping. Employers or operators of indoor spaces would be within their rights to implement policies banning the use of vapes in their premises and many do so.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the risk of people moving from non-nicotine to nicotine vapes.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Our health advice regarding vapes covers both non-nicotine as well as nicotine vapes, that while vaping can play a useful role in helping adult smokers to quit, non-smokers and children should never vape. The long-term health impacts of vaping are unknown, and the nicotine contained within nicotine vapes can be highly addictive.

We recognise the risk of non-nicotine vapes being used as a gateway to nicotine vapes by children. That is why the Tobacco and Vapes Bill includes new regulation making powers that will cover all vapes, nicotine as well as non-nicotine, to reduce their appeal and availability to children and non-smokers.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans her Department has to assess the impact of regulation of vape (a) flavours, (b) packaging and product presentation and (c) point of sale displays on (i) quit rates of smokers and (ii) relapse rates of smokers who have switched to vaping.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The health advice on vaping is clear, if you don’t smoke, don’t vape, and children should never vape. However, youth vaping has tripled in the last three years, and one in five children have now used a vape.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will crack down on youth vaping by providing powers to regulate flavours, displays, and packaging for vapes and nicotine pouches. It will ban free vape samples being given to children, and introduce an age of sale for non-nicotine vapes.

In doing this, we must strike the right balance between reducing the appeal of vapes to children while ensuring vapes remain attractive and available to adult smokers as a quit aid. This will be carefully considered in the development of any specific restrictions, and further consultation will take place before introducing any regulations. As stated in Parliament during the second reading of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, we intend to hold the consultation on the regulations before the end of this Parliament, if practicable. We will also undertake an impact assessment to consider the potential impact of these regulations on smokers as well as other groups.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of her legislative proposals on vaping on trends in the level of (a) smokers who will quit and (b) ex-smokers who will relapse.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The health advice on vaping is clear, if you don’t smoke, don’t vape, and children should never vape. However, youth vaping has tripled in the last three years, and one in five children have now used a vape.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will crack down on youth vaping by providing powers to regulate flavours, displays, and packaging for vapes and nicotine pouches. It will ban free vape samples being given to children, and introduce an age of sale for non-nicotine vapes.

In doing this, we must strike the right balance between reducing the appeal of vapes to children while ensuring vapes remain attractive and available to adult smokers as a quit aid. This will be carefully considered in the development of any specific restrictions, and further consultation will take place before introducing any regulations. As stated in Parliament during the second reading of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, we intend to hold the consultation on the regulations before the end of this Parliament, if practicable. We will also undertake an impact assessment to consider the potential impact of these regulations on smokers as well as other groups.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if a Minister from her Department will visit Darlington to hold discussions with (a) the Police and (b) Trading Standards on the joint steps they are taking to help tackle the sale of illegal vapes and illicit tobacco.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Ministers in the department are always happy to consider meetings and visits to understand the impact of their policy areas, and we recommend reaching out to Ministers’ offices directly.

A strong approach to enforcement is vital if the smokefree generation policy is to have real impact. My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care recently visited a cargo warehouse at Heathrow Airport with Hillingdon Trading Standards to see first-hand the work they are doing to seize illicit vapes at the border, and prevent these products from being sold in the United Kingdom.

Underage and illicit sales of tobacco products, and more recently vaping products, is undermining the work the Government is doing to regulate the industry and protect public health. It also deprives the UK of vital money that could be used to fund essential public services, instead, putting it in the hands of criminals.

This is why alongside the measures in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, we are supporting enforcement agencies with up to £30 million a year, to scale up their existing activities. This increased investment will help to stamp out criminal activity by boosting enforcement capacity, and help local trading standards tackle underage sales at a local level. Of this funding, over £100 million over five years will support HM Revenue and Custom’s and Border Force’s new illicit tobacco strategy. As is the case with existing age of sale legislation, breaches of the new law will primarily be dealt with by local authority trading standards, rather than by local police forces.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will publish the Regulatory Policy Committee's original opinion on the Tobacco and Vapes Bill submitted to her Department on 12 February 2024; if she will outline the changes she has made to that Bill since receiving that opinion; and what discussions she has had with the Regulatory Policy Committee on the expected timetable for their submission of the revised opinion.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Smoking is responsible for approximately 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom, and causes around one in four cancer deaths in the UK. It also costs our country £17 billion a year, and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service. That is why we have introduced the Tobacco and Vapes Bill to create the first smokefree generation, and enable us to further crack down on youth vaping. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is available at the following link:

https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3703

On 12 February 2024 the Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC) gave opinion on the Tobacco and Vapes Bill impact assessment and rated it green (fit for purpose). However, on 19 March 2024, ahead of the introduction of the bill, a revised version was sent to the RPC for comment. This included changes to reflect the inclusion of Northern Ireland in the bill, following the formation of a Northern Ireland Executive, and a power in the bill to enable the current notification system for nicotine vapes to also cover non-nicotine vapes and other consumer nicotine products, for instance nicotine pouches. The RPC have publicly stated that they welcome the resubmission of the revised impact assessment, and we expect a revised opinion to be issued shortly. The statement from the RPC is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/the-tobacco-and-vapes-bill-statement-from-the-rpc

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the Regulatory Policy Committee's revised opinion on the Tobacco and Vapes Bill is published by 16 April 2024.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Smoking is responsible for approximately 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom, and causes around one in four cancer deaths in the UK. It also costs our country £17 billion a year, and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service. That is why we have introduced the Tobacco and Vapes Bill to create the first smokefree generation, and enable us to further crack down on youth vaping. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is available at the following link:

https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3703

On 12 February 2024 the Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC) gave opinion on the Tobacco and Vapes Bill impact assessment and rated it green (fit for purpose). However, on 19 March 2024, ahead of the introduction of the bill, a revised version was sent to the RPC for comment. This included changes to reflect the inclusion of Northern Ireland in the bill, following the formation of a Northern Ireland Executive, and a power in the bill to enable the current notification system for nicotine vapes to also cover non-nicotine vapes and other consumer nicotine products, for instance nicotine pouches. The RPC have publicly stated that they welcome the resubmission of the revised impact assessment, and we expect a revised opinion to be issued shortly. The statement from the RPC is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/the-tobacco-and-vapes-bill-statement-from-the-rpc

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions officials in her Department have had with the Office for Health Improvements and Disparities on the findings in it's Vaping in England review, published on 29 September 2022, that non-tobacco flavours may play a positive role in helping people switch from smoking to vaping.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Due to the nicotine content and the unknown long-term harms, vaping carries risks to health and lifelong addiction for children. Vaping is, therefore, only recommended for adult smokers who wish to quit smoking. Young people and people who have never smoked, should not vape.

Our youth vaping call for evidence, published in 2023, demonstrated that the flavours are one of the main reasons that vapes appeal to children. However, as set out in the 2022 Nicotine vaping in England review, we also recognize that there is some evidence that non-tobacco flavours can play a positive role in smoking cessation. This is why it is critical we strike the balance between restricting flavours in vapes to reduce their appeal to young people, whilst also ensuring that vapes remain available for adult smokers as a viable smoking cessation tool.

In the upcoming Tobacco and Vapes Bill, we will introduce powers to restrict vape flavours. Subject to Parliamentary approval, the Department will then undertake further analysis and consultation before introducing any specific flavour restrictions. The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) is an internal part of the Department, and OHID officials are leading on our smokefree generation and youth vaping work.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of (a) vapes, (b) vapes with flavoured e-liquids and (c) vapes with fruit, dessert and sweet flavoured e-liquids at successful tobacco smoking cessation.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Due to the nicotine content and the unknown long-term harms, vaping carries risks to health and lifelong addiction for children. Vaping is, therefore, only recommended for adult smokers who wish to quit smoking. Young people and people who have never smoked, should not vape.

Our youth vaping call for evidence, published in 2023, demonstrated that the flavours are one of the main reasons that vapes appeal to children. However, as set out in the 2022 Nicotine vaping in England review, we also recognize that there is some evidence that non-tobacco flavours can play a positive role in smoking cessation. This is why it is critical we strike the balance between restricting flavours in vapes to reduce their appeal to young people, whilst also ensuring that vapes remain available for adult smokers as a viable smoking cessation tool.

In the upcoming Tobacco and Vapes Bill, we will introduce powers to restrict vape flavours. Subject to Parliamentary approval, the Department will then undertake further analysis and consultation before introducing any specific flavour restrictions. The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) is an internal part of the Department, and OHID officials are leading on our smokefree generation and youth vaping work.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of banning the sale of tobacco products to people born after 1 January 2009 on tobacco duties.

Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Tobacco_and_vapes_bill_IA.pdf (parliament.uk)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has had discussions with the UK Vaping Industry Association on its proposals for a vape retail licence.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department has not had any discussions with the UK Vaping Industry Association on its proposals for a vape retail license, though we have received written representations on this issue. There are no current plans to introduce a licensing scheme. However, the Government recognises that strong enforcement is needed to tackle underage and illicit vape sales. The new Tobacco and Vapes Bill includes provisions to issue fixed penalty notices for underage tobacco and vape sales. This will complement existing powers that local authorities have to enforce age of sale legislation including fines of up to £2,500, and for the most serious offences, court orders to prevent the offending retailer from opening for a period.

In addition, we have committed to increasing investment for our enforcement agencies by £30 million per year, and at Spring Budget the Chancellor announced that the Government will introduce a new duty on vaping products, giving HM Revenue and Customs further powers to minimise fraud, introduce civil and criminal powers to seize illicit products and equipment, and issue penalties.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December to Question 4083 on Tobacco, whether he plans to publish the Office for Budget Responsibility’s assessment of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill before its presentation.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Smoking is the number one entirely preventable cause of ill-health, disability and death in this country. It is responsible for 80,000 deaths in the United Kingdom a year and one in four of all cancer deaths in the UK. It costs our country £17 billion a year, of which £14 billion is through lost productivity alone. It puts huge pressure on the National Health Service and social care, costing over £3 billion a year.

We are not aware of any plans by the Office for Budget Responsibility to publish an assessment of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill. However, we do plan to publish an impact assessment of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill in due course.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what her planned timetable is to respond to the consultation entitled Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Smoking is the number one entirely preventable cause of ill-health, disability and death in this country. It is responsible for 80,000 deaths in the United Kingdom a year, and one in four of all UK cancer deaths. It costs our country £17 billion a year, of which £14 billion is through lost productivity alone. It puts huge pressure on the National Health Service and social care, costing over £3 billion a year.

We plan to publish the Government response to the consultation shortly, ahead of the introduction of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she plans to publish a response to the consultation on Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Smoking is the number one entirely preventable cause of ill-health, disability and death in this country. It is responsible for 80,000 deaths in the United Kingdom a year, and one in four of all UK cancer deaths. It costs our country £17 billion a year, of which £14 billion is through lost productivity alone. It puts huge pressure on the National Health Service and social care, costing over £3 billion a year.

We plan to publish the Government response to the consultation shortly, ahead of the introduction of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress her Department has made on drafting the Tobacco and Vapes Bill; and what steps she is taking to ensure that the Bill takes into account the responses to the consultation on Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Smoking is the number one entirely preventable cause of ill-health, disability and death in this country. It is responsible for 80,000 deaths in the United Kingdom yearly, and one in four of all UK cancer deaths. It costs our country £17 billion a year, including £14 billion of lost productivity alone. It puts huge pressure on the National Health Service and social care, costing over £3 billion a year.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is currently being finalised and will be introduced in this parliamentary session. The Bill will create the first smokefree generation, crack down on youth vaping, and will enable the Government to enforce the new rules. The Bill will be informed by the recent consultation ‘Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping’ the response of which will be published shortly.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to reduce the prevalence of vaping among people who have never smoked tobacco.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Vaping is rightly used by adults as a tool to quit smoking, but the health advice is clear that if you do not smoke, do not vape, and children should never vape.

On 12 October 2023, we launched a public consultation, seeking views on creating the first smokefree generation, our plans to crack down on youth vaping by reducing the appeal, availability and affordability of vapes to our children, and options to ensure the law is enforced. The consultation closed on 6 December 2023, and we will respond in the coming weeks ahead of the introduction of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she last met representatives of the vaping industry.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government and devolved administrations have consulted on plans to create a smokefree generation and tackle youth vaping, and as a part of this, officials meet with different stakeholders. The Secretary of State has not met with representatives of the vaping industry.

The consultation closed in December 2023 and we will publish our consultation response in the coming weeks ahead of the introduction of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many children under the age of 18 were treated by NHS England for vaping-related disorders in (1) 2021, (2) 2022, and (3) 2023; and what assessment they have made of the need to reduce vaping by the under-18s, including measures to make vapes available only on prescription.

Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England recently published data on vaping related disorders as either the primary or secondary diagnosis. Data shows 46 people 19 years old and under were admitted for a vaping related disorder in 2022/23, down from 54 in 2021/22. Due to the size of the data, a copy of the full data set is attached.

On 12 October 2023, we launched a public consultation, seeking views on creating the first smokefree generation, our plans to crack down on youth vaping by reducing the appeal, availability and affordability of vapes to our children, and options to ensure the law is enforced. The consultation closed on 6 December 2023, and we will respond in the coming weeks ahead of the introduction of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.

There are no medicinally licensed vaping products approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. As such, the Government is not currently considering making vaping products prescription-only.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the number of cases of (a) preventable ill health and (b) premature death (i) in Leicester East constituency and (ii) nationally.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Local authorities and integrated care boards are responsible for improving the health of their local population and reducing health inequalities. In 2023/24, the total Public Health Grant to local authorities was £3.530 billion. Leicester – which includes the Leicester East constituency – received £29 million of the grant in 2023/24, which is almost £80 per head of population. Additional funding has been provided to improve cardiovascular outcomes in deprived communities, prevent drug and alcohol deaths, address need, and enhance recovery, and improve mental health for people in Leicester.

In January 2023 the Department announced its plan to publish the Major Conditions Strategy, focusing on six major groups of conditions (cancer, mental ill health, cardiovascular disease (including stroke and diabetes), dementia, chronic respiratory diseases, and musculoskeletal disorders) that account for approximately 60% of ill-health and premature death in England.

Smoking is the number one preventable cause of death, disability and ill health, which is why Government has set out plans to introduce a Tobacco and Vapes Bill in parliament and announced new funding to support current smokers, a new incentives programme to support pregnant women to quit, deliver anti-smoking campaigns and crackdown on illicit tobacco and underage sale of tobacco and vapes.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Stopping the start: our new plan to create a smokefree generation, published on 8 November 2023, whether it is her policy to include vaping products in these proposals.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Smoking is responsible for approximately 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom and causes approximately one in four cancer deaths. It also costs our country £17 billion a year and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service. That is why we will introduce the Tobacco and Vapes Bill in this parliamentary session to create the first smokefree generation and crack down on youth vaping

In October 2023, the Government and devolved administrations launched a public consultation on the smokefree generation and youth vaping. For the smokefree generation policy, where tobacco products would not be sold to those who turned 15 years old or younger this year, the consultation included a question on whether respondents agreed with the proposed approach to mirror the existing age of sale legislation in England and Wales. This included:

- cigarettes;

- cigarette papers;

- hand rolled tobacco;

- cigars;

- cigarillos;

- pipe tobacco;

- waterpipe tobacco products, for example, shisha;

- chewing tobacco;

- heated tobacco;

- nasal tobacco; and

- herbal smoking products.

The consultation response will be published shortly

As outlined in command paper published on 4 October 2023, our position is that all tobacco products are harmful, and the evidence is clear that there is no safe level of tobacco consumption. Tobacco smoke from shisha and cigars lead to the same types of diseases as cigarette smoke. Snus is banned in the UK and we have no plans to introduce additional tobacco products to the UK market.

Vapes are tobacco-free so outside the proposed scope of the smokefree generation policy. In our consultation, we asked questions about policies which have the potential to reduce the appeal, availability, and affordability of vaping to children. It is clear that vaping is totally unsuitable for children. However, we want to ensure that vapes remain available as a smoking cessation tool for adult smokers given the lesser harms posed to smokers from vaping.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Stopping the start: our new plan to create a smokefree generation, published on 8 November 2023, whether it is her policy to include shisha-based products in these proposals.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Smoking is responsible for approximately 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom and causes approximately one in four cancer deaths. It also costs our country £17 billion a year and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service. That is why we will introduce the Tobacco and Vapes Bill in this parliamentary session to create the first smokefree generation and crack down on youth vaping

In October 2023, the Government and devolved administrations launched a public consultation on the smokefree generation and youth vaping. For the smokefree generation policy, where tobacco products would not be sold to those who turned 15 years old or younger this year, the consultation included a question on whether respondents agreed with the proposed approach to mirror the existing age of sale legislation in England and Wales. This included:

- cigarettes;

- cigarette papers;

- hand rolled tobacco;

- cigars;

- cigarillos;

- pipe tobacco;

- waterpipe tobacco products, for example, shisha;

- chewing tobacco;

- heated tobacco;

- nasal tobacco; and

- herbal smoking products.

The consultation response will be published shortly

As outlined in command paper published on 4 October 2023, our position is that all tobacco products are harmful, and the evidence is clear that there is no safe level of tobacco consumption. Tobacco smoke from shisha and cigars lead to the same types of diseases as cigarette smoke. Snus is banned in the UK and we have no plans to introduce additional tobacco products to the UK market.

Vapes are tobacco-free so outside the proposed scope of the smokefree generation policy. In our consultation, we asked questions about policies which have the potential to reduce the appeal, availability, and affordability of vaping to children. It is clear that vaping is totally unsuitable for children. However, we want to ensure that vapes remain available as a smoking cessation tool for adult smokers given the lesser harms posed to smokers from vaping.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Stopping the start: our new plan to create a smokefree generation, published on 8 November 2023, whether it is her policy to include snus tobacco products in these proposals.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Smoking is responsible for approximately 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom and causes approximately one in four cancer deaths. It also costs our country £17 billion a year and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service. That is why we will introduce the Tobacco and Vapes Bill in this parliamentary session to create the first smokefree generation and crack down on youth vaping

In October 2023, the Government and devolved administrations launched a public consultation on the smokefree generation and youth vaping. For the smokefree generation policy, where tobacco products would not be sold to those who turned 15 years old or younger this year, the consultation included a question on whether respondents agreed with the proposed approach to mirror the existing age of sale legislation in England and Wales. This included:

- cigarettes;

- cigarette papers;

- hand rolled tobacco;

- cigars;

- cigarillos;

- pipe tobacco;

- waterpipe tobacco products, for example, shisha;

- chewing tobacco;

- heated tobacco;

- nasal tobacco; and

- herbal smoking products.

The consultation response will be published shortly

As outlined in command paper published on 4 October 2023, our position is that all tobacco products are harmful, and the evidence is clear that there is no safe level of tobacco consumption. Tobacco smoke from shisha and cigars lead to the same types of diseases as cigarette smoke. Snus is banned in the UK and we have no plans to introduce additional tobacco products to the UK market.

Vapes are tobacco-free so outside the proposed scope of the smokefree generation policy. In our consultation, we asked questions about policies which have the potential to reduce the appeal, availability, and affordability of vaping to children. It is clear that vaping is totally unsuitable for children. However, we want to ensure that vapes remain available as a smoking cessation tool for adult smokers given the lesser harms posed to smokers from vaping.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Stopping the start: our new plan to create a smokefree generation, published on 8 November 2023, whether it is her policy to include snuff tobacco products in these proposals.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Smoking is responsible for approximately 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom and causes approximately one in four cancer deaths. It also costs our country £17 billion a year and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service. That is why we will introduce the Tobacco and Vapes Bill in this parliamentary session to create the first smokefree generation and crack down on youth vaping

In October 2023, the Government and devolved administrations launched a public consultation on the smokefree generation and youth vaping. For the smokefree generation policy, where tobacco products would not be sold to those who turned 15 years old or younger this year, the consultation included a question on whether respondents agreed with the proposed approach to mirror the existing age of sale legislation in England and Wales. This included:

- cigarettes;

- cigarette papers;

- hand rolled tobacco;

- cigars;

- cigarillos;

- pipe tobacco;

- waterpipe tobacco products, for example, shisha;

- chewing tobacco;

- heated tobacco;

- nasal tobacco; and

- herbal smoking products.

The consultation response will be published shortly

As outlined in command paper published on 4 October 2023, our position is that all tobacco products are harmful, and the evidence is clear that there is no safe level of tobacco consumption. Tobacco smoke from shisha and cigars lead to the same types of diseases as cigarette smoke. Snus is banned in the UK and we have no plans to introduce additional tobacco products to the UK market.

Vapes are tobacco-free so outside the proposed scope of the smokefree generation policy. In our consultation, we asked questions about policies which have the potential to reduce the appeal, availability, and affordability of vaping to children. It is clear that vaping is totally unsuitable for children. However, we want to ensure that vapes remain available as a smoking cessation tool for adult smokers given the lesser harms posed to smokers from vaping.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2023 to Question 3251 on Smoking, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of exempting cigar based products from the proposals.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Smoking is responsible for approximately 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom and causes approximately one in four cancer deaths. It also costs our country £17 billion a year and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service. That is why we will introduce the Tobacco and Vapes Bill in this parliamentary session to create the first smokefree generation and crack down on youth vaping

In October 2023, the Government and devolved administrations launched a public consultation on the smokefree generation and youth vaping. For the smokefree generation policy, where tobacco products would not be sold to those who turned 15 years old or younger this year, the consultation included a question on whether respondents agreed with the proposed approach to mirror the existing age of sale legislation in England and Wales. This included:

- cigarettes;

- cigarette papers;

- hand rolled tobacco;

- cigars;

- cigarillos;

- pipe tobacco;

- waterpipe tobacco products, for example, shisha;

- chewing tobacco;

- heated tobacco;

- nasal tobacco; and

- herbal smoking products.

The consultation response will be published shortly

As outlined in command paper published on 4 October 2023, our position is that all tobacco products are harmful, and the evidence is clear that there is no safe level of tobacco consumption. Tobacco smoke from shisha and cigars lead to the same types of diseases as cigarette smoke. Snus is banned in the UK and we have no plans to introduce additional tobacco products to the UK market.

Vapes are tobacco-free so outside the proposed scope of the smokefree generation policy. In our consultation, we asked questions about policies which have the potential to reduce the appeal, availability, and affordability of vaping to children. It is clear that vaping is totally unsuitable for children. However, we want to ensure that vapes remain available as a smoking cessation tool for adult smokers given the lesser harms posed to smokers from vaping.

Found: Tobacco and Vapes Bill

Found: proposals on youth vaping 20 4.1 Call for evidence on youth vaping (April to June 2023) 20 4.2 The Tobacco

Pass the Tobacco and Vapes Bill (smoking ban bill) in line with the Chief Medical Officer's advice and without any influence or interference from Big Tobacco lobbyists, before the next General Election.

Found: Pass the Tobacco and Vapes Bill before the next General Election

Found: The Tobacco and Vapes Bill would make it an offence to sell tobacco products to anyone born after 1 January

Found: Chief Medical Officer for England on the tobacco and vapes bill

Found: Under the Tobacco and Vapes Bill introduced today, children turning 15 this year or younger will never

Found: are taking action to prevent our children from ever lighting a cigarette, and our proposed historic Tobacco

Found: Our historic Tobacco and Vapes Bill will protect the next generation from the harms of smoking and risk

Found: Tobacco and Vapes Bill: factsheets

Found: Tobacco and Vapes Bill: impact assessment

Found: Tobacco and Vapes Bill: impact assessment

Found: Tobacco and Vapes Bill: RPC Opinion (Green-rated)

Found: Tobacco and Vapes Bill: RPC Opinion (Green-rated)

Found: Tobacco and Vapes Bill: Statement from the RPC

Found: Minister for Public Health and Women's Health to the HSCS Convener concerning the introduction of the Tobacco

Found: and tackling youth vaping ’consultation launched in October 2023[104]. are being taken forward in the Tobacco

Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has assessed the potential impact on its commitment to ban single-use vapes in the event that the UK Government's Tobacco and Vapes Bill is not passed by the UK Parliament, and what discussions the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity has had with the UK Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, or any other UK Government ministers, regarding this Bill.

Answered by McAllan, Màiri - Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition

The passage of the four nations Tobacco and Vapes Bill has no impact on the Scottish Government’s commitment to prohibit the sale and supply of single-use vapes. The prohibition of the sale and supply of single-use vapes is being progressed under existing environmental powers devolved to Scottish Ministers. The UK Government and Welsh Government are progressing similar legislation in England and Wales respectively.

Work on the Tobacco and Vaping Bill, in Scotland, is being led by the Minister for Public Health and Women's Health. This Bill will increase the age of sale for tobacco products and provide powers to legislate on vape flavours, displays, packaging, and other measures. As the Bill makes provisions within the competence of the Scottish Parliament, a Legislative Consent Memorandum was brought forward on 2nd April for consideration by this Parliament.