Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to prevent the advertising and promotion of vaping products in ways that appeal to children and young people, including through the use of child-friendly branding, flavour descriptions and in-store displays.

It is incredibly worrying that 25% of 11 to 15 year olds have tried vaping. That is why we are committed to bringing about definitive and positive change to stop future generations from becoming hooked on nicotine. Evidence shows us that vapes appeal to children for many reasons, including packaging, product appearance, flavours, and vapes being easy to access.

The Tobacco and Vapes Act bans the advertising and sponsorship of all vapes and nicotine products, and the Government intends this to come into force from 1 June 2027, mirroring the impactful current restrictions on tobacco. The act also includes a range of new regulation-making powers for the Government. This includes powers that will enable us to introduce new restrictions on the packaging, product appearance, and display of vapes in shops.

We are consulting on introducing restrictions on tobacco, vaping, and nicotine product packaging, flavour descriptors, vape appearance, and changing where and how vapes are displayed in shops. We will listen very carefully to the views and evidence put forward by stakeholders.