Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions the Government has had with Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers on the introduction of a generational ban on the sale of cigarettes.

Smoking is responsible for approximately 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom and causes around one in four cancer deaths in the UK. It also costs our country £17 billion a year and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service.

This is why the Government is planning to create a smokefree generation by bringing forward legislation so that children turning 14 years old or younger this year will never be legally sold tobacco products. On 12 October 2023, we launched a UK-wide consultation to gather views on these proposals and their implementation.

Whilst we have not met specifically with the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers, we have, and will continue to, speak to the retail sector and their associations to help develop our policies.