Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether it is his Department's policy to reduce the availability of disposable vapes.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK Government, Scotland and Wales are considering restrictions on the sale and supply of disposable vaping products (including non-nicotine vapes), including prohibiting the sale of these products, due to the environmental impacts of disposable vapes. Northern Ireland will consider measures relating to disposable vapes following this consultation. The consultation closed on 6 December and we are currently analysing the feedback we received. We will publish our response in due course.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to reduce the environmental impact of disposable vaping products.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On 12 October 2023 the Government launched a consultation on smoking and youth vaping. As part of this consultation, the UK government and devolved administrations considering restrictions on the sale and supply of disposable vape products (including non-nicotine vapes) – including prohibiting the sale of these products – due to the environmental impacts of disposable vapes. The consultation has now closed and we are currently analysing the feedback we received. We will be publishing our response in due course.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he last met with representatives from the vaping industry.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
No meetings with Defra Secretaries of State or Ministers have taken place with representatives of the vaping industry. Defra officials attended a conference organised by the Independent British Vaping Trade Association on 26 October 2023.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
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.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
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.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
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 support research into the potential impact of vaping on health.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The best thing a smoker can do for their health is to quit smoking. As shown in the recently published Nicotine Vaping in England Report there is evidence that vapes are less harmful to health than smoking.
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), previously Public Health England, has published detailed evidence updates on vapes/e-cigarettes. These reviews report on the safety, effectiveness and impact of vapes since 2014. The last report is available at the following link:
OHID will continue to closely monitor the evidence base of research on vapes, including their long-term impact on health and health behaviours.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it is his Department's policy to waive the visa fee for children leaving Gaza who are non-British citizens with family residing in the UK.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Applicants outside of the UK wishing to apply to join/accompany a family member who is a British national; or a person present and settled in the UK, with a view to residing in the UK, may apply for a fee waiver if they consider they cannot afford the fee.
There is no fee attached to applications submitted under Appendix Family Reunion to the Immigration Rules.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to prevent the unauthorised use of creative content by AI.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK has world-leading protections for copyright and intellectual property, and we are committed to maintaining them. We want rights holders to be assured that AI firms will use their content appropriately and lawfully. The Intellectual Property Office has been working with rights holders and AI firms to clarify the relationship between AI and copyrighted works. An update on this work will be published in due course.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether it is his policy to negotiate mutual recognition of pilot licenses between the Civil Aviation Authority and European Union Aviation Safety Agency.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The UK continues to have a productive relationship with EASA in many areas and have already agreed a high-level Aviation Safety Agreement. We hope to be able to expand this in appropriate areas that support our industry in the future, including in relation to pilot licensing. However, this may well take some time, and it would require willingness from the EU as well. We are continuing to work to ensure an effective licensing regime supports UK aviation and delivering effective implementation of the existing agreement with the EU.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an estimate of how many people living in supported accommodation are unable to access the warm home discount because their landlord is the utility customer.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Warm Home Discount scheme obligates participating energy suppliers to provide rebates to eligible customers. Under the scheme in Scotland, customers are eligible if they are either in receipt of the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit or meet the eligibility criteria set by their energy supplier.
Energy suppliers can support households through the Industry Initiatives element of the scheme, through measures such as financial assistance, debt write-off, and energy efficiency. This support can be provided irrespective of whether a person is named on the electricity bill.