Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a legal requirement that vape shops cannot operate near schools.

The Department ran a call for evidence at the end of last year inviting feedback on the implementation of a retail licensing scheme for tobacco, vapes, and nicotine products. This included asking about the factors that should be taken into consideration when making decisions to grant a premises licence, such as the location and density of retailers.

We are carefully considering the feedback gathered and intend to consult on our proposals for the new retail licensing scheme in 2027.

More broadly, we are committed to tackling youth vaping. On 10 July, we launched a United Kingdom-wide consultation on new proposals to reduce the appeal of vaping, tobacco, and nicotine products, including proposals on product packaging, flavour descriptors, device appearance, and changing where and how vapes are displayed in shops.