Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the consultation entitled Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping, what steps her Department plans to take to enforce the proposals relating to (a) tobacco and (b) vape products bought from online retailers.

A strong approach to enforcement is vital if the smokefree generation and youth vaping policy is to have real impact. Underage and illicit sale of tobacco, and more recently vapes, is undermining the work the Government is doing to regulate the industry and protect public health. The sale of illicit products frequently targets children and young people in disadvantaged communities, widening health disparities.

For this reason, HM Revenue and Customs and Border Force published the joint illicit tobacco strategy, Stubbing Out the Problem, in January 2024. This sets out our plans to be at the forefront of tackling illegal activity and opportunities that criminals might seek to exploit. One of the strategies key aims is to reduce the demand for illicit tobacco, which will include tackling online sales of illicit tobacco on social media platforms, gathering intelligence on social media sales, and working with social media platforms to ensure we are effective in limiting criminal groups’ ability to sell illicit tobacco through these channels.

Additionally, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is creating a framework of standards and governance, underpinned by legislation, to enable the widespread use of trusted digital identity services. This will make it possible for people to prove things about themselves in a secure way without using paper documents.

The Government wants to make sure that those under the legal age of sale cannot buy tobacco products and vapes online, so we have committed to further enhance online age verification. As set out in the command paper, Stopping the start: our new plan to create a smokefree generation, we will work with retailers that sell tobacco products and vapes to produce good practice guidance to help retailers adopt online age verification, to address underage sales.