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
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.
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, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the findings of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Vaping’s inquiry into the UK Tobacco Harm Reduction Opportunities Post-Brexit: Achieving a Smoke-Free 2030.
Answered by Jo Churchill
This publication will be considered alongside a wide range of evidence to inform the Government’s policy on the role of e-cigarettes in helping smokers quit smoking.
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 All-Party Parliamentary Group for Vaping’s inquiry into the UK Tobacco Harm Reduction Opportunities Post-Brexit: Achieving a Smoke-Free 2030, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of in-packet targeted communications to smokers on (a) availability of reduced-risk alternative products and (b) the potential effects of other products on health.
Answered by Jo Churchill
No assessment has been made. Inserts in cigarette packets are banned under the Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations 2015. The Government is currently conducting a post implementation review of the Regulations which will be published later this year.
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 evidence his Department will be using to reach the UK’s agreed position on Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) ahead of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control ninth Conference of the Parties (COP9) since the UK has left the EU; and if will publish that information ahead of COP9.
Answered by Jo Churchill
Ahead of the ninth Conference of the Parties (COP9) of the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the Government will be considering domestic and international evidence on electronic nicotine delivery systems. This will include Public Health England’s seventh Vaping in England report, which was published in February 2021. No further information will be issued by the Department ahead of COP9.
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, pursuant to the Answer on 18 May 2021 to Question 170 on Tobacco, in the context of the decision of the Ninth Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP9) to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the Second Session of the Meeting of the Parties (MOP2) to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products to meet virtually, if he will extend the UK’s delegation to include (a) advocates for the Government’s harm reduction policies and (b) consumers as per the recommendations of the all-party Parliamentary group for Vaping's inquiry into COP9 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control published on 31 March 2021.
Answered by Jo Churchill
Departmental officials will be attending the virtual Ninth World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Conference of the Parties (COP9). Officials from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs will be attending the virtual Second Session of the Meeting of the Parties (MOP2). As COP9 and MOP2 are Government-led events, no other representatives will be attending.
Whilst the agenda and papers for COP9 and MOP2 have not been circulated, officials will use the opportunity to speak about the United Kingdom’s progress on the implementation of tobacco control policies. This will include, where relevant, the role of nicotine replacement therapy and e-cigarettes in supporting smokers to quit.