Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his policy paper, Smoke-free generation: tobacco control plan for England, published on 18 July 2017, what progress he has made on achieving the target to reduce the number of 15 year olds who regularly smoke from eight per cent to three per cent or less.

The Government has a strong track record of reducing harm caused by tobacco, based on a comprehensive approach to tobacco control aimed at preventing young people from taking up smoking and encouraging existing smokers to quit, including bans on smoking in public places, and on promotion and advertising of tobacco products.

The latest available date shows that the proportion of 15-year olds who regularly smoke was 7% in 2016, down from 8% in 2014. An update of this data will be published on 25 July 2019.