Tobacco and Vapes Bill

Monday 9th March 2026 Lords Chamber

Third Reading

Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland legislative consent granted. Relevant document: 22nd Report from the Delegated Powers Committee.

15:35

Motion

Moved by

[Baroness Merron]

That the Bill be now read a third time.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care (Baroness Merron) (Lab)]

My Lords, I will make a short statement on the position regarding legislative consent on this Bill. The Bill is UK-wide, and it has been developed in partnership with the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive. A legislative consent Motion was received from the Northern Ireland Assembly on 10 February 2025, from the Scottish Parliament on 29 May 2025 and the Senedd on 9 December 2025.

Following further amendments to the Bill on Report, supplementary legislative consent Motions have been sought from the Scottish Parliament and the Senedd. It has not been possible to complete this process before Third Reading. However, noting the strong support of the Scottish and Welsh Governments, we are hopeful that this process will conclude shortly. The Northern Ireland Executive has confirmed that their current legislative consent Motion is sufficient. I beg to move.

Schedule 16: Advertising etc: audiovisual and radio broadcasting

Amendment 1

Moved by

[Baroness Merron]

1: Schedule 16, page 169, line 39, leave out “(a) and (b),” and insert “—
(a) in paragraph (a),”Member’s explanatory statement
This makes a structural change to facilitate my amendment to Schedule 16, page 169, line 40.

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

My Lords, Amendments 1 to 5 are minor and technical, and stem from the amendments that the Government made on Report on advertising. The amendments ensure consistency across the advertising-related restrictions in the Communications Act 2003. In particular, they will ensure that a business which manufactures or sells more than one type of product, such as vaping products and nicotine products, is in scope of the restrictions on sponsorship of prohibited products. It was always the Government’s intention to capture any business which manufactures or sells prohibited products, no matter how many different types of product they sold or manufactured. The amendments therefore provide consistency across the advertising-related restrictions and prevent the creation of a potential loophole. I beg to move.

Amendment 1 agreed.

Amendments 2 to 5

Moved by

[Baroness Merron]

2: Schedule 16, page 169, line 40, at end insert—
“(b) in paragraph (b), after “other tobacco products” insert “, herbal smoking products or cigarette papers (or of two or more of those products)”.”Member’s explanatory statement
Section 368G(1)(b) of the Communications Act 2003, as amended, will refer to an undertaking whose principal activity is the manufacture etc of cigarettes or certain other products. The amendment spells out that this covers an undertaking whose principal activity is the manufacture etc of two or more of those products (for consistency with other amendments).

3: Schedule 16, page 169, line 41, leave out “(a) and (b),” and insert “—
(a) in paragraph (a),”Member’s explanatory statement
This makes a structural change to facilitate my amendment to Schedule 16, page 169, line 42.

4: Schedule 16, page 169, line 42, at end insert—
“(b) in paragraph (b), for “electronic cigarettes or electronic cigarette refill containers” substitute “vaping products or nicotine products (or both)”.”Member’s explanatory statement
Section 368G(1A)(b) of the Communications Act 2003, as amended, will refer to an undertaking whose principal activity is the manufacture etc of vaping or nicotine products. The amendment spells out that this covers an undertaking whose principal activity is the manufacture etc of both products (for consistency with other amendments).

5: Schedule 16, page 170, line 3, after “subsection (4)” insert “—
(a) in paragraph (b), after “tobacco products” insert “(or both)”;Member’s explanatory statement
Section 368H(4)(b) of the Communications Act 2003, as amended, will refer to an undertaking whose principal activity is the manufacture etc of cigarettes or other tobacco products. The amendment spells out that this covers an undertaking whose principal activity is the manufacture etc of both descriptions of product (for consistency with other amendments).

Amendments 2 to 5 agreed.

Bill read a third time.

15:39

Motion

Moved by

[Baroness Merron]

That the Bill do now pass.

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

My Lords, it has been a privilege to take this landmark Bill through your Lordships’ House. Smoking is the number one preventable cause of death, disability and ill health and tobacco claims around 80,000 lives every year. While tobacco remains the greatest threat, this legislation is about protecting future generations from the harms of not only tobacco but nicotine addiction.

I extend my thanks to noble Lords who have contributed from right across the House: in particular, on the Front Benches, the noble Lord, Lord Kamall, the noble Earls, Lord Howe and Lord Russell, and the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley. My thanks go also to the Secretary of State for his leadership and support and to former Minister Ashley Dalton MP, who advanced this Bill to your Lordships’ House.

I also want to pay tribute, as many of us do, to former Prime Minister the right honourable Rishi Sunak for his ambition for a smoke-free generation. I also thank the Chief Medical Officer, Sir Chris Whitty, for his expertise and unwavering focus, and all the officials who have played a crucial role, including the Bill team, policy teams, analysts, the Bill’s senior responsible owners, my private office and the Government Legal Department and the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel for their invaluable contributions.

Finally, I pay tribute to Ministers and officials from the devolved Governments for their collaborative approach. This is genuinely a four-nations Bill which will ensure that we create a smoke-free generation and tackle youth vaping in every corner of our country. I beg to move.

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

My Lords, we have now reached the conclusion of what many will see as a landmark Bill. I thank all noble Lords who have contributed throughout the various stages of its journey through your Lordships’ House, which began with its introduction as long ago as March last year. From these and other Benches, we heard a range of views on its various proposals and on the Bill itself. For some, it goes too far. For others, it does not go far enough. However, among all the disagreements, there were three points that I think noble Lords can agree on. First, smoking is bad for your health. Secondly, current evidence shows that vaping is less harmful than smoking tobacco. Thirdly, not vaping is healthier than vaping.

Beyond that, our debates covered a number of issues, from the evidence base to how to make vapes an attractive alternative to adults who wish to quit smoking while not appealing to children, as well as matters of individual liberty. We also debated the illicit sale of tobacco, the treatment of specialist retailers, cigarette filters, the compatibility of the Bill with the Windsor Framework and the enforcement of a regulatory regime of considerable complexity. We also probed the Government on the evidence behind some of the proposals, for example on the relative harm of heated tobacco compared with combustible tobacco for smokers who have tried vapes but did not like them, so reverted to cigarettes.

While we did not always agree, I thank the Minister and her officials for meeting my noble friend Lord Howe and me throughout the passage of the Bill. I particularly thank her for the concessions made: we particularly welcome the amendment permitting vape vending machines in secure mental health settings. These are vulnerable people in restricted environments for whom access to cessation aids is not a luxury but a genuine health need and it was right that the Bill was amended accordingly.

15:45

I also pay tribute to my noble friend Lord Lindsay and other noble Lords who have consistently and cogently made the case for specialist tobacconists throughout this process. These are small, responsible businesses serving adult consumers, some of whom travel specifically to London from all over the world to sample and purchase high-value hand-crafted cigars. These cigars are quite distinct and much less affordable than cigarillos and machine-made cigars that form part of the mass tobacco market this Bill principally targets. I hope the Government will continue to bear that distinction in mind as secondary legislation is developed.

It is on secondary legislation that I wish to sound a note of caution, because a very significant portion of the Bill’s practical effects will be determined not by what Parliament has already debated but by regulations yet to be laid. The rules governing vape descriptors, flavours, advertising restrictions and the designation of vape-free zones all remain to be settled by Ministers. That is a considerable degree of delegated power; it is power the Government have argued is necessary to allow them to collect the evidence. While we see that there may be merit in that argument, we on these Benches will monitor the development of the regulations carefully.

Our concerns, however, can be summarised relatively easily: we want regulations to be grounded in evidence; they must not impose unnecessary burdens on retailers, especially corner shops and other small retailers; and they must not impose burdens on the hospitality sector. The regulations must also recognise the concerns of former smokers who rely on vape products and descriptors as part of their pathway from smoking and, therefore, must not ban products that might make smoking cessation more difficult. We welcome the commitment to a review of this Act after a reasonable period of years. That review will matter.

The generational ban may, over time, contribute to reducing smoking rates, but the risk of unintended consequences is real. The illicit tobacco market, by some accounts, continues to grow, and a permanent, ever-widening prohibition on tobacco sales to an increasing share of the adult population may drive some to that market. We hope that any review will examine such questions honestly and not with a predetermined response whatever the evidence.

Finally, I thank my noble friend Lord Howe for his advice and his contributions to the debate. I also thank all those organisations, whatever their views, which shared their briefings with my noble friend and other noble Lords at every stage of the Bill’s progress. Of course, it is never possible to satisfy all points of view. I hope, however, they feel that we thoroughly debated the issues they raised. I also hope that, whatever one thinks of this Bill, these measures will help smokers who wish to quit; that they will reduce the attractiveness of taking up smoking, particularly among our youth; and that they will improve the health of our nation.

[Earl Russell (LD)]

My Lords, I speak for my Benches, as my noble friend Lady Walmsley is unable to be here today as she is presently chairing a committee. As we reach the final stage of this landmark public health legislation, I begin by expressing my sincere thanks to the Minister and her officials for their constructive engagement throughout. This has been challenging and complex legislation, and the collaborative spirit shown across the House in scrutinising it has undoubtedly strengthened it.

I want to thank my noble friend Lady Walmsley for her outstanding leadership of our team, her diligent negotiation and her clear focus on public health. I also thank my noble friend Lady Northover and the rest of the Bill team. I thank Adam Bull in our Whips’ Office for his guidance and support throughout.

From the very start, we have been proud to support this Bill and the principle underpinning it: the creation of a smoke-free generation. The generational ban is bold, evidence-based and one of the most significant steps any of us will probably take as parliamentarians to improve the nation’s health and well-being in our lifetimes. It will help ensure that future generations never start on the path to addiction and the devastating consequences that surely follow.

We are pleased that, through our discussions, a number of improvements have been secured. Local authorities will now retain the full proceeds from the £2,500 fixed penalty notices issued for licensing offences, giving trading standards the resources they need for effective enforcement. The Government have also taken new powers to regulate or ban cigarette filters, recognising growing concerns about the false perception of safety they create and their environmental impact.

To support smoking cessation, a new defence will allow public authorities to partner with businesses to promote non-branded vapes and nicotine products for public health purposes. The narrow exemption introduced for vape vending machines in adult mental health hospitals is also welcome, ensuring an appropriate balance between safeguarding and supporting cessation in secure settings.

We also welcome the Government’s acceptance of the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee’s recommendations to upgrade the parliamentary procedure for age-verification regulations to affirmative and the commitment to a formal statutory review within four to seven years of Royal Assent. The recently launched consultation on smoke-free, heated tobacco-free and vape-free places also sends an important signal about the Government’s intention to maintain momentum in this area. However, there is still more to do. We regret that the Government did not accept the cross-party proposals for a levy on big tobacco company profits to fund cessation and related healthcare, and we believe that further action is essential to keep vapes out of the hands of our children and bring forward a proper ban on disposable vapes.

This Bill lays the foundations for a generational shift in public health. It will reach its potential only if implemented with care, attention and continued cross-party resolve. This is landmark legislation, and we are proud to support it.

15:50

Bill passed and returned to the Commons with amendments.