Tobacco and Vapes Bill

Lord Mott Excerpts

2nd reading
Wednesday 23rd April 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Mott (Con)]

My Lords, I welcome the Second Reading of this important Bill. It is right that we scrutinise it carefully, and I am pleased to be following my noble friend Lord Bethell. This is a landmark piece of legislation, introduced by the previous Conservative Government, with the ambition of delivering a smoke-free 2030.

As a father of two daughters, I care deeply about the future we are building for the next generation. Protecting children from smoking and vaping is vital, but to achieve that we must ensure that the Bill is practical, enforceable and fair to those who act responsibly. My concern is that in its current form, the Bill risks harming responsible retailers and manufacturers, while driving trade into the hands of the illicit market. Many of these retailers are already under pressure from inflation and increased costs, as highlighted very clearly by my noble friend Lord Sharpe.

I support the introduction of the retail licensing scheme. Reputable retailers have been calling for a scheme like this for years. Licensing will help distinguish responsible businesses from those that sell illegally. We know from ASH that nearly half of underage vapers buy their products from retailers, and the Chartered Trading Standards Institute says that around a third of vaping products in the UK are non-compliant. A proper licensing scheme will help enforcement and protect children, but there is no implementation date in the Bill. Without enforcement, this legislation will not succeed. Trading Standards Wales has already raised concerns about the risk of the expanding illicit market. I will support amendments to strengthen and accelerate the delivery of the retail licensing scheme. Responsible retailers must be supported, and those that break the rules must be held to account.

Another urgent issue is the rise of “mega puff”, or carousel, vape devices. These are being marketed as reusable, but in reality they are often thrown away after the coil burns out, as mentioned by other noble Lords. These devices are cheaper per puff, contain more liquid and plastic, and are proving popular with young people. Material Focus estimates that 3 million of these “big puff” devices are sold every week, and nearly half are sold to 16 to 34 year-olds. If we do not act now, this loophole will undermine the disposable vape ban coming into force in June. The Government must be empowered to remove these products and prevent future redesigns that bend the rules.

I find myself in the unique place, as mentioned earlier by my noble friend Lord Lancaster, of agreeing not only with him but with the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett of Manor Castle. While the Bill rightly focuses on reducing the health harms of tobacco and vaping, we must also recognise the significant environmental damage caused by cigarette litter. Cigarette butts are made of a synthetic plastic. Each cigarette butt contains around two straws’ worth of plastic. Globally, around 6 trillion cigarettes are smoked each year, of which 4.5 trillion are littered. Even here in the UK, an estimated 3.9 million cigarette butts are discarded every day.

These butts are not just unsightly; they pose a real threat to wildlife, pollute waterways and are expensive for local authorities to clean up. Each plastic cigarette filter can take up to 10 years to break down into microplastics—tiny particles that now pollute every corner of our planet, from the summit of Mount Everest to the deepest parts of the ocean. Microplastics are now found in our food, our water and even the air we breathe. The scale of this problem is growing. According to the Marine Conservation Society, the amount of plastic waste found on UK beaches rose by 9.5% in 2024, compared with the previous year. As we look to shape a smoke-free generation, we must also address the long-term environmental consequences of tobacco use. I urge the Government to consider measures to reduce cigarette filter pollution as part of this legislation.

I have focused on two areas that are critical to the success of the Bill. We must support enforcement and close dangerous loopholes so that the legislation achieves what it sets out to do. Above all, we must protect our children and reduce smoking-related harm. I look forward to hearing the Minister’s response and working with colleagues to ensure that the Bill delivers a truly smoke-free generation.

New Hospital Programme Review

Lord Mott Excerpts

Tuesday 28th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Mott (Con)]

My Lords, I welcome the £102 million that the Minister referred to for the upgrade to GP estates. May I ask how many of those will be in Cambridgeshire? Has any assessment been made of the pressure that the upgrade of those GP estates will take off the NHS? The Minister said that often people cannot get a GP appointment and therefore tend to go to A&E. Has any assessment been made of how much pressure will be taken off and, more importantly, the quality of care given to people who are able to go to their local GP instead of having often to go to A&E?

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

While I cannot answer exactly on Cambridgeshire, which the noble Lord raises, I can say that the department and NHS England are working with integrated care boards to ensure that there is a priority on high-impact projects where investment will unlock all the things we are all looking for, which are significant productivity gains and additional usable space from existing buildings. Of course, ICBs are responsible for that. I perhaps should also make the point that this is the first dedicated national capital fund for primary care since 2020. The noble Lord rightly quoted me back about the benefits of investing in GP practice. We are probably all familiar with that. There have been a number of reviews, including, of course, the independent review of the noble Lord, Lord Darzi, which spoke to the point about the need for capital investment in primary care.

Homecare Medicines Services (Public Services Committee Report)

Lord Mott Excerpts

Thursday 2nd May 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Mott (Con)]

My Lords, it is a pleasure to take part in this debate on homecare medicine services. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Morris of Yardley, for opening this very important debate. I also thank her for being incredibly supportive since I joined the Select Committee in January. As a new member of the Public Services Select Committee, I take this opportunity to thank noble Lords who I sit on the Committee with for such a warm and supportive welcome when I first joined. I also thank Crohn’s & Colitis UK for the briefing before today’s debate.

As we have heard, homecare medicine services could transform patient care, but currently the service is not working for the majority of patients. We often hear large numbers given in speeches, and I may use some today, but we must never forget that public services are used by people who may not have access to tech or the knowledge of how to use it and who are often living in difficult and challenging circumstances. Our focus must always be on how we improve the lives of those who rely on our public services. We should embrace change and ensure that all partnerships are explored in the pursuit of excellence. Public sector, private sector and not-for-profit collaboration will allow us to achieve excellence.

I will focus on the problems in the first part of my remarks, although I fear I may be repeating some that have featured in noble Lords’ contributions, and I will end with the positives. Homecare medicine services can transform patient care, and I have confidence in the Minister to deliver. It is a surprise that, although thousands of people depend on medicine delivered to their home, no one has any idea how often patients suffer from service failures. It is not just the Government who are unsure about how many patients are involved, but NHS England, patient groups and regulators, as has been mentioned already today. This lack of knowledge, data and information is a real concern. Without data, you cannot set KPIs or manage the service efficiently.

We have some data, but I am not sure whether it currently paints a positive picture. IT systems have been developed with no single NHS system for providers to interact with, which means, as has been mentioned by the noble Baroness, that around 6,000 prescriptions are written in the UK every single day on more than 1,000 different templates.

One provider reported that, between October and December 2020, 9,885 patients had medicines missed or delayed. We do not know how much money is spent, as has been highlighted in this debate. It could be £4.1 billion, £3.2 billion or £2.9 billion—the truth is that we simply do not know. It is important that we get that figure quickly. We cannot accept the Government always hiding behind confidentiality and contracts as reasons why we cannot see some of the data; in the end, this is taxpayers’ money, and we need to make sure that it is being spent in the correct manner. The lack of transparency is a worry, as are failures in procurement and the reluctance to enforce standards, as my noble friend highlighted in his usual way at the beginning of the debate. The report makes clear that this is a difficult market with poor infrastructure.

I mentioned earlier that public services are about people. Many people with Crohn’s and colitis rely on homecare medicine services. When it works well, homecare offers people with inflammatory bowel disease the opportunity to receive treatment in the comfort of their own home, reducing the cost of travelling back and forth to hospital and the impact of treatment on their work or education. It can also reduce pressures on NHS services by allowing people to receive their medication at home. Unfortunately, delays, cancellations and incorrect deliveries of homecare medicine services are jeopardising people’s health and causing significant stress and worry for people living with Crohn’s and colitis, for example.

A Crohn’s and Colitis UK survey in 2023 found that nearly two-thirds of people with IBD had experienced problems with homecare in the previous six months, including delays or cancellations. Those failures led to nearly half experiencing a flare, one in nine ending up in A&E and one in 20 requiring surgery. One lady living with Crohn’s disease told the organisation:

“Every month continued with missed and delayed deliveries and being unable to contact the home care company. My hospital team had to intervene every time. On top of the daily challenges that my condition presents, the stress, anxiety, and time spent making sure I got my drug became unsustainable. It was too much”—


far too much. Sadly, her story is not unique. When IBD medication is delayed or missed, there is a strong risk that it loses its effectiveness and no longer helps to manage symptoms, which can result in a flare-up. A Crohn’s or colitis flare can lead to bleeding, abdominal pain, fever, joint pain, mouth ulcers, fatigue and mental health deterioration. Careful monitoring and control of IBD is vital for people to be able to work, study, socialise, maintain relationships and live life the way that they want to. Unreliable homecare medicine services jeopardise this.

It is currently unclear exactly how many people have been harmed by homecare failures, how much money is being spent on these services and who is ultimately responsible for them. We need to make sure that homecare medicine services are monitored and governed far more effectively, as we have heard today. Perhaps the real point is that no one seems to own these key services. As noble Lords will know, when a service is an orphan, progress is limited, accountability is lacking and patients suffer.

The report is an opportunity lost—for now—but it is clear that, if we can make some changes, homecare medicine services could be transformational. Reliable homecare medicines can change patients’ lives, improve quality of care and quality of life and start to make a real difference. This would allow NHS resources to be redeployed.

I am heartened by the substantial progress that has been made since the report was launched. The NHS England review to establish the facts is fundamental to ensure that we are starting from a position of fact that will allow the transparency required, start to allow patients and providers to understand the marketplace and allow patients to have the confidence to improve their health and to start to take the pressures off the NHS.

I thank the Government for their work in this space and their commitment to take the issues raised with them by the committee seriously. Having read both the Government’s letters to the committee on this topic, it is evident to me that good progress is being made here. It is reassuring that the Government accepted a large number of the recommendations in the report and are fully engaged in productive work to return a final position on some of the others.

I note that, importantly, NHS England’s desktop exercise is now complete, and I was delighted that stakeholders, including patients, had been involved in that. I look forward to reading it once it is published. I was also heartened to read that NHS England will now move to focus on and take action in the most pressing areas of patient experience and performance, and continue to engage with key stakeholders as its work moves forward.

Lastly, I note the fact that NHS England will appoint a senior responsible owner for this work, which is incredibly good news for this sector. I look forward to hearing more details about the position and the appointment to it, and to reading the Government’s summer update to the committee on homecare medicines services. I know that my noble friend the Minister is a strong advocate of using data to drive up standards and performance. This gives me confidence that we will see the change required. I am looking forward to his response today. It is worth remembering that it is the little things that mean a lot.