Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to to strengthen penalties for repeat breaches of tobacco and vape licensing conditions once the Tobacco and Vapes Bill is enacted.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill, currently being considered in the House of Lords, provides powers to enable the Government to introduce a licensing scheme for the retail sale of tobacco, vapes, and nicotine products. As set out in the bill, if a retailer is found to be in breach of a condition of their licence, they could receive a civil financial penalty of up to £2,500. Enforcement officers take a proportionate approach to enforcement and will be able to issue a financial penalty at a value that reflects the severity of the breach. Serious cases could face revocation of their licence which would prohibit them from selling relevant products. Selling without a licence will be a serious offence and could result in an unlimited fine on conviction, or a £2,500 on-the-spot fine. We will provide guidance on the licensing scheme to support enforcement officers when issuing civil penalties for licence breaches.

Details of the licensing scheme, including licence conditions and consequences for anyone found to have breached those conditions, will be set out in regulations. We will consult on the specifics of the scheme before bringing forward secondary legislation.