Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to monitor the potential health implications of increases in the number of young people using vapes.

We are concerned about the rise in the number of young people using vapes. There is well established concern about the addictive harms and risks from vaping, specifically associated with children and young people. Nicotine is highly addictive and there are unanswered questions on the effects of longer-term use.

That is why the Government ran a call for evidence on youth vaping which closed on 6 June 2023. This will identify opportunities to reduce the number of children accessing and using vaping products and explore where the government can go further to protect children from the harms of vaping.

We will respond to the call for evidence in due course.