Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of underage vaping on children’s (a) concentration and (b) attainment at school.

Schools are required by law to have a behaviour policy that sets out what is expected of all pupils, including what items are banned from school premises.

Schools have the autonomy to decide which items should be banned from their premises, and these can include e-cigarettes or vapes. School staff can search pupils for banned items, as outlined in the Department’s ‘Searching, screening and confiscation at school’ guidance, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/searching-screening-and-confiscation.

The relationships and sex education and health education statutory guidance states that, in both primary and secondary school, pupils should be taught the facts about legal and illegal harmful substances and associated risks, including smoking, alcohol use, and drug-taking.

To support schools to deliver this content effectively, the Department has published a suite of teacher training modules, including one on drugs, alcohol and tobacco, which makes specific reference to e-cigarettes and vaping.