Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether it is her Department's policy to restrict the future availability of Snus and vapes.

The sale of oral tobacco, such as Snus, is banned in the United Kingdom under the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016.

Vapes are less harmful than smoking because they do not contain tobacco, and therefore can be an effective tool in supporting smoking cessation. Vaping is already estimated to contribute to an extra 50,000 to 70,000 smoking quits per year in England. Ensuring that vapes continue to be available to current adult smokers is vital to reducing smoking rates.

However, the number of children using vapes has tripled in the past 3 years. To tackle this, the Tobacco and Vapes Bill will introduce measures to restrict the appeal and availability of vapes to children.

To support this, we recently consulted on a set of proposals to reduce youth vaping, ensuring we get the balance right between protecting our children and supporting adult smokers to quit. We will respond to the consultation in the coming weeks.