Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken at the Conference of the Parties of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control to lead that Conference's efforts to encourage smokers to switch to less harmful alternatives.

The Government encourages adult smokers to switch to vapes as they are substantially less harmful than smoking. They can help adult smokers to quit, particularly when combined with additional support from local stop smoking services. They are an important tool in our ambition to be Smokefree by 2030.

The Government has regularly set out our position on vaping at the Conference of the Parties of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and will do so at the next conference in November 2023. The delegation will not agree to any decisions which would impact on our ability to make vapes available for smokers who wish to quit.