Tobacco and Vapes Bill (Fourth sitting)

Alex Barros-Curtis Excerpts

Committee stage
Thursday 9th January 2025 Public Bill Committees

[Dr Johnson]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention, and I shall try to be clearer. I strongly believe that these products should not be sold to children—I believe that personally; we have a free vote on this in my party. I strongly agree with the vast majority of the Bill, and certainly with the rolling age for tobacco. However, I think we have to be proportional in how we manage fines for individuals who break the law. I will come on to how the measures compare with those for other age-restricted products in a moment. Consistency is important.

When we debated this issue in the last Parliament in relation to the previous iteration of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, there was published Government guidance on who would be fined. It may be that this Government have published similar guidance already, but I have not been able to find it; perhaps the Minister can say whether it is available yet. When we debate clause 1 stand part, we will talk about what the clause means by “a person”. The effect of a deterrent or punishment depends on who we are trying to deter or punish: if we are trying to deter or punish a major corporation or a business, the fines may need to be larger than if we are trying to deter a 19-year-old who works in a shop on a Saturday afternoon while attending college. That is the point that I am trying to get to with the amendments.

[Mr Alex Barros-Curtis (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

Further to the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Chatham and Aylesford, on which the shadow Minister is expanding, for which I am grateful, we heard evidence on the question of proportionality from National Trading Standards on Tuesday. The witnesses said that they would not necessarily levy the highest fines in the case of first-time offenders. Building on what my hon. Friend said, I am struggling to see the purpose of the amendment, given that the people who will engage with this measure, National Trading Standards, are very clear that they will employ exactly what the shadow Minister is concerned about—proportionality—in the case of, for example, a first-time offender.

[Dr Johnson]

The hon. Gentleman is right to go back to the evidence. One of the things we were told in the evidence provided by National Trading Standards and the Local Government Association, particularly on Tuesday, was that they want discretion, but also that they want first-time offenders to be treated more leniently. That was a clear ask from our witness, who explained that educating or warning first-time offenders was a better option than fining them.

Each of the amendments that I have tabled seeks to make available a police caution that will not count on a criminal record and so means the person will not be criminalised, unlike someone’s being taken to court and given a fine. The amendments would add in a lower level, as well as reduce the overall top fine. What I am trying to get from the Minister before Report is an understanding of whom he is trying to fine and proportionality in the amount of the fine. We need guidance on that issue, so that we can fully understand how a Saturday shop worker will be treated if they inadvertently sold some tobacco to somebody in a first offence versus how a shopkeeper and licence holder will be treated if they repeatedly commit such offences. I want some guidance from the Minister on that.