Asked by: Mark Pawsey (Conservative - Rugby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Written Statement of 11 April 2023, HCWS710, on Achieving Smokefree 2030: cutting smoking and stopping kids vaping, when his Department plans to create the illicit vapes enforcement squad.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
The new illicit vapes enforcement unit, led by National Trading Standards, is now operational. The two-year, £3 million funded project commenced work in early summer 2023. National Trading Standards is gathering data and intelligence, training staff, and bolstering capacity, and will begin field work operations in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Mark Pawsey (Conservative - Rugby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending the £10,000 penalties for the sale of illicit tobacco products to illicit e-cigarettes.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
The current Track and Trace system only covers illicit tobacco. However, we are currently exploring a range of new measures to tackle illicit vapes as part of response to youth vaping call for evidence. We will publish our response to this shortly.
Asked by: Mark Pawsey (Conservative - Rugby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the fines for retailers which sell vaping products to young people under the age of eighteen.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
No assessment has been made of the adequacy of the fines for retailers which sell vaping products to young people under the age of 18 years old.
However, a post implementation review of The Nicotine Inhaling Products (Age of Sale and Proxy Purchasing) Regulations 2015 was published in January 2021 and is available at the following link:
The review concluded that the legislation had met its objectives.
We are fully aware of issues around youth vaping and have recently launched a youth vaping call for evidence. We will assess a range of options based on the evidence provided, including potential future changes to vaping policy and regulation.
Asked by: Mark Pawsey (Conservative - Rugby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which non-compliant vape products were seized most frequently in the most recent period for which data is available; and what recent discussions the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has had with manufacturers of those products to help ensure that they are no longer supplied to the UK market.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
The Department does not collect information centrally on non-compliant vape products seized. Local enforcement agencies are responsible for taking action against non-compliant vape products that are placed on the UK market.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency work with manufacturers of vape products at the pre-market stage of notification. If necessary, they request corrective actions to bring each submission into compliance with notification requirements set out in the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016.
Asked by: Mark Pawsey (Conservative - Rugby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support is available to deaf people to access employment within the NHS.
Answered by Edward Argar
The NHS People Plan commits to creating a diverse workforce and reforming staff recruitment and promotion practices to ensure greater inclusivity.
The Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES) is a mandated framework of ten measures, including recruitment, which compares the workplace experiences of disabled and non-disabled staff. National Health Service organisations use the data collected to develop action plans and it provides comparative information to demonstrate progress. Following the WDES’s data analysis report in 2021, recommendations include developing opportunities for local unemployed disabled people to gain work experience within NHS organisations and convening inclusive recruitment panels to include disabled staff, particularly for senior roles.