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
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
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
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
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 - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
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.
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 the UK delegation to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Ninth Conference of the Parties plans to request the formation of an intersessional Working Group to hear evidence on the use of vaping devices as harm reduction tools.
Answered by Maggie Throup
We have no plans to do so. However, we will set out our pragmatic and evidence-based approach to e-cigarettes.
Asked by: Mark Pawsey (Conservative - Rugby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
What steps he is taking to increase the number of in-person GP appointments.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
On 14 October we published a comprehensive new plan to support general practitioners (GPs) and to make it easier for patients to see or speak to GPs and their teams.
Our plan is supported by a new £250 million Winter Access Fund to assist patients with urgent care needs to be seen by their practitioner on the same day, taking account of their preferences.
Asked by: Mark Pawsey (Conservative - Rugby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State and Health and Social Care, with reference to the Government's data on vaping published on 4 March 2020 and 23 February 2021 which show that the number of people vaping in England has plateaued, whether he plans to increase communications to smokers on ways to quit tobacco, including the use of less harmful alternatives to smoking.
Answered by Maggie Throup
Public Health England’s smoking cessation marketing activity, including the current ‘Stoptober’ campaign, signposts to a range of quitting support such as replacing tobacco with electronic cigarettes. The updated National Health Service Quit Smoking app launched in advance of Stoptober will continue beyond the campaign with ongoing development planned.
In 2022, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities will publish an independent review of the up-to-date evidence on the safety of e-cigarettes. The review will include information about the relative harm of smoking and vaping. New guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, to be published in November 2021, will advise the public and health professionals on the most effective ways of stopping smoking and reducing its burden of death and disease.
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 officials in his Department have consulted consumers of (a) vaping and (b) other reduced-risk products ahead of the Ninth session of the Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The Department has not consulted consumers on vaping or other reduced-risk products ahead of the Ninth session of the Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. However, the Department meets with the Independent British Vape Trade Association to discuss a range of policy and regulatory issues.
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 plans he has to tackle misinformation on the harms of vaping relative to other nicotine delivery and tobacco products.
Answered by Maggie Throup
In 2022, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) will publish an independent review of the up-to-date evidence on the safety of vaping products. The review will include information about the relative harm of smoking and vaping.
New guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), to be published in November 2021, will make recommendations about using electronic cigarettes to help people stop smoking.
The OHID will use the upcoming NICE guidance publication as an opportunity to communicate with the public and healthcare professionals about the relative harms of using nicotine containing products and smoking to support an informed choice.