Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether additional support will be provided for Trading Standards to enforce the proposed generational ban on tobacco sales.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Smoking is the number one entirely preventable cause of ill-health, disability and death in this country. It is responsible for 80,000 yearly deaths in the United Kingdom and one in four of all UK cancer deaths. It costs our country £17 billion a year, £14 billion of which is through lost productivity alone. It puts huge pressure on the National Health Service and social care, costing over £3 billion a year. That is why we are introducing legislation to create the first smokefree generation, making it illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009.
To ensure the law is enforced, the Government is providing an additional £30 million per year for enforcement agencies, including Trading Standards, to support work to tackle illicit and underage sales. The Government will also introduce a £100 fixed penalty notice for the underage sale of tobacco and vaping products. This will support Trading Standards to take quicker and more proportionate enforcement action against the irresponsible retailers who allow underage sales. We will continue to work closely with local trading standards and businesses to provide guidance on implementing and enforcing the Smokefree Generation policy.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what NHS support is available for people wanting to give up vaping.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Vaping can be an effective tool for adult smokers to quit smoking. However, the health advice is clear: if you don’t smoke, don’t vape, and children should never vape. The NHS Better Health website provides advice for people who want to quit vaping. Local stop smoking services can also provide resources to support children and adult vapers to quit, through funding from the public health grant. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/better-health/quit-smoking/vaping-to-quit-smoking/
In addition, the National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training has produced guidance for local Stop Smoking Service staff on how best to support vapers to quit. We are also exploring further ways to support people to quit vaping, as part of the national Swap to Stop programme. The guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.ncsct.co.uk/publications/Support_stop_vaping
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help tackle underage vaping.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is concerned about the worrying rise in vaping among children. Youth vaping has tripled in the last three years, and one in five children now use a vape. The health advice is clear: if you don’t smoke, don’t vape, and children should never vape.
The Government’s response to the recent smoking and vaping consultation sets out our plan to introduce powers to crack down on youth vaping by restricting flavours, point of sale and packaging for vaping products. We will introduce legislation as soon as possible. The consultation is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/creating-a-smokefree-generation-and-tackling-youth-vaping/outcome/creating-a-smokefree-generation-and-tackling-youth-vaping-consultation-government-response
In the consultation response, we also announced that disposable vapes will be banned, due to their appeal to young people and environmental concerns. The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs will be taking forward the ban and are looking to legislate as soon as possible.
We have also developed new training resources and support available for teachers and schools, working with the Department for Education to update the curriculum to include the health risks of vaping, and publish new online content on the potential risks of vaping for young people.
Finally, we will also introduce a £100 fixed penalty notice for underage sales of tobacco and vaping products. This will enable trading standards officers to take quicker and more proportionate enforcement action against the irresponsible retailers who allow underage sales.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will introduce hypothecated taxes for (a) smoking products, (b) vaping products and (c) alcohol to pay for health services related to those products.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government already has duties in place on tobacco and alcohol which help to fund important public services, including the NHS, education and defence.
The Government has also delivered on its commitment to review the outdated and complex alcohol duty system and introduced the biggest reform of alcohol duties for 140 years. As of 1 August 2023, all alcohol is now taxed by strength, putting public health at the heart of alcohol duty. This is helping to target problem drinking by taxing products associated with alcohol-related harm at a higher rate of duty.
With regard to vaping, the UK Government thinks there is a strong case to take action to reduce the affordability of vapes and is continuing to consider options, including a new duty, to achieve this.
The Government keeps all taxes under review as part of the tax policy making cycle and Budget process.
Asked by: Lord Young of Cookham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Markham on 25 January (HL Deb col 845) when he stated that a levy on the profits of the tobacco industry would result in a net increase of "only about £25 million or so", what is the basis for that assertion.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the United Kingdom, smoking is responsible for approximately 80,000 deaths a year and causes approximately one in four cancer deaths. It also costs the UK £17 billion a year and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service. This is why, alongside our plans to create a smokefree generation, we are also supporting more smokers to quit by nearly doubling funding to local stop smoking services.
In respect to the remarks made on 25 January 2024, these relate to a response to the Tobacco levy consultation published by HM Treasury in 2015. This cites HM Revenue and Customs analysis which, at the time, showed that a tobacco levy of £150 million would only raise £25 million. A copy of the Tobacco levy consultation is attached.
However, the Department continues to work with HM Treasury regarding tobacco taxation and revenue. This includes reviewing options for the most effective way to raise additional funds to further support smoking cessation services moving forward.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance her Department has issued to local authority smoking cessation services on whether they can offer disposable vapes through the Swap to Stop scheme; and whether her Department has received representations on the distribution of disposable vapes by local authorities from Yorkshire Cancer Research.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We launched the national Swap to Stop scheme in November 2023 to provide local authorities up to one million free vape starter kits, alongside the provision of behavioural support, to help smokers quit smoking. Disposable vapes are not available under the national Swap to Stop scheme. The Department has not received representations from Yorkshire Cancer Research on the distribution of disposable vapes to local authorities.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the research from University College London entitled Who would be affected by a ban on disposable vapes? A population study in Great Britain, published on 24 January 2024.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The health advice on vaping is clear: vaping can play a role in helping adult smokers to quit, but if you don’t smoke, don’t vape, and children should never vape. However, youth vaping has tripled in the last three years and one in five children have now used a vape. We know that disposable vapes have played a significant role in this rise, with 69% of children aged between 11 and 17 years old who vape now using disposables, compared to just 7% in 2021.
Adults will still have access to non-disposable vapes to help them to quit smoking. We have also announced significant new funding to support current smokers in quitting by doubling the funding of local stop smoking services to nearly £140 million per year, and through our national Swap to Stop scheme we’re helping adult smokers to quit by providing one million vapes to local authorities.
A full impact assessment is being undertaken by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs on the proposed ban on the sale and supply of disposable vapes.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department plans to take steps to restrict the advertising of vapes at (a) sporting venues, (b) on packaging and (c) at point of sale.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is concerned about the worrying rise in vaping among children, with youth vaping tripling in the last three years and one in five children having now used a vape. The health advice is clear: if you don’t smoke, don’t vape, and children should never vape.
The Government’s response to the recent smoking and vaping consultation sets out our plan to introduce legislation as soon as possible. Whilst there are no current plans to ban the advertising of vaping products in sports venues, we will introduce powers to limit where and how vapes can be displayed within shops, as well as how vapes are packaged.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
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 ban the promotion and advertisement of vaping products (a) in sports venues and (b) on sports kits.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 outline restrictions on the marketing and promotion of vapes, and are available at the following link:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2016/507/contents/made
This includes a ban on advertising on television, radio and through information society services, such as internet advertising or commercial email. We also work closely with the Advertising Standards Authority, which investigates advertising on social media platforms.
There are no current plans to ban the promotion and advertisement of vaping products in sports venues and on sports kits. The Government’s response to the recent smoking and vaping consultation sets out our plan to introduce legislation as soon as possible. The legislation will introduce measures to crack down on youth vaping by restricting flavours, point of sale, and packaging for vaping products.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the risk of cardiac arrest among young people.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme tests for 11 specific physical conditions including congenital heart disease. All parents are also offered a physical examination of their baby within 72 hours of giving birth, which includes checking the baby for heart murmurs.
To improve survival rates for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest cases, on 29 December 2022 the Government announced a new £1 million one-off fund that will expand defibrillator access in the community. The Government is acting on the drivers of cardiovascular diseases, including smoking. We have set out plans to create the first smokefree generation and announced significant new funding to support current smokers.