Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 3 December 2015 (HL3859), which tobacco measures introduced in the last 10 years they have reviewed in respect of their effectiveness; what have been the results of those reviews; and whether they will place those measures and their reviews in the Library of the House.

The Department assesses the impact of tobacco control measures on an ongoing basis as it develops policy and considers new measures.

In September 2013, the Department published An Audit of the impact of the Department of Health’s Regulations upon business. A copy of the report is attached. The Audit report covered all regulations for which the Department has responsibility believed to have a potential cost to business, including those relating to tobacco control.

Costs and benefits were estimated where possible using standard government methodology and the impacts to society were estimated based on economic costs and benefits. As advised in the report, there is a robust cost-benefit case for the tobacco control regulations considered and experience shows that initiatives to reduce smoking prevalence work best in combination, with cumulative effects over time.