Asked by: David Jones (Conservative - Clwyd West)
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 potential implications for her policies of the Tenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which concluded on 10 February 2024.
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.
This is why the Government is committed to creating the first smokefree generation, ensuring no child born after 1 January 2009 will ever legally be sold tobacco. The tenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP10) to the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control was an opportunity for the UK to showcase this international leadership on tobacco control. The decisions agreed at COP10 will not impact our smokefree generation policies or our plans to tackle youth vaping.
Asked by: David Jones (Conservative - Clwyd West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the UK delegation to the Tenth Conference of the Parties of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control will share with the World Health Organisation (a) the annual review of nicotine vaping commissioned by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities and (b) other evidence on vaping produced by the UK academic community.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Government has regularly set out our position on vaping at the Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and will do so at the next conference in Panama in November 2023.
The latest ‘Vaping in England’ report published last year, which includes an array of evidence produced by the United Kingdom academic community, is publicly available online and has been shared with the World Health Organization Global Tobacco Regulators Forum.
Asked by: David Jones (Conservative - Clwyd West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June to Question 188411 on Oral Tobacco, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of prohibiting the (a) sale and (b) supply of oral nicotine pouches to people under 18.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
No formal assessment has been made. Prevalence of nicotine pouches remains low, and whilst there is currently no age of sale restrictions on nicotine pouches, manufacturers do print age restrictions on their packs. We will keep this under review.
Asked by: David Jones (Conservative - Clwyd West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the extent to which infrastructure for the diagnosis of dementia adequately serves (a) each UK region and (b) rural areas in particular.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has commissioned the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities Dementia Intelligence Network to investigate the underlying variation in dementia diagnosis rates. This includes the assessment of underlying population characteristics such as rurality, ethnicity, and age. The aim of this work is to provide context for variation and enable targeted investigation and provision of support at a local level to enhance diagnosis rates. The resource is currently being tested with Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board.
Asked by: David Jones (Conservative - Clwyd West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to regulate oral nicotine pouches in line with other reduced-risk nicotine products such as e-cigarettes.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Committee on Toxicity of Food, Consumer Products and the Environment is reviewing the evidence on the use of oral nicotine pouches and assessing the risk to users. On completion of this review, the Department will assess whether the regulatory framework for oral nicotine pouches should be amended.
Asked by: David Jones (Conservative - Clwyd West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Dr Javed Khan's review into Smokefree 2030 policies, what steps he is taking to implement that report's recommendation to facilitate access to oral nicotine pouches.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Nicotine pouches are widely available in the United Kingdom. However, there is limited research and evidence into the harms of nicotine pouches and the ability to support attempts to stop smoking. The Department has requested the Committee on Toxicity of Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) to review the evidence on the use of oral nicotine pouches and the assessment of risk to users. The COT has published a discussion paper and will publish a position statement once the review is complete.
Asked by: David Jones (Conservative - Clwyd West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department will be represented at the World Health Organisation Regional Committee Meeting for Europe between 12-14 September 2022.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The United Kingdom’s delegation will be led by the Department of Health and Social Care, with officials from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the UK Health Security Agency, NHS England and the Welsh Government.
Asked by: David Jones (Conservative - Clwyd West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the impact on human health of the consumption of game containing lead shot; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The issue of lead and lead shot has been assessed on several occasions by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Committee on the Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT). COT concluded that lead shot game is unlikely to be a significant source of lead exposure for most consumers, although it may be a significant contributor for frequent consumers.
The FSA advises that high consumers of lead shot game should minimise consumption, especially of small game to reduce exposure to lead. This is particularly important for pregnant women, toddlers, children and women trying for a baby. Lead exposure from food, including from lead shot game, is kept under review by the FSA to ensure that advice and other measures in place remain protective for consumers.
Asked by: David Jones (Conservative - Clwyd West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 21 September 2021 to Question 50629 on Oral Tobacco, when he will publish the evidence on snus which his Department has analysed.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The Department received over 5,000 responses to the public consultation on the post-implementation review (PIR) of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulation 2016. Identifying the specific evidence relating to oral tobacco and/or snus across these submissions would incur disproportionate cost. However, the Department has now published the PIR, which includes a summary of the evidence and is available at the following link:
The Department has not undertaken its own review of oral tobacco as it is banned in the United Kingdom and we have no plans to introduce additional tobacco products to the market. Safer nicotine delivery products are currently available for smokers, including nicotine pouches.
Asked by: David Jones (Conservative - Clwyd West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure small convenience stores adhere to strict age verification standards for the sale of e-cigarettes; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the enforcement measures as a deterrent.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The Government provides central funding to local authorities in support of local trading standards activity. It is for local authorities to decide how this funding is allocated across local services, including how to combat the underage sale of e-cigarettes. The Department also commissions the Chartered Trading Standards Institute to publish annual tobacco control surveys on trading standards activities. The Department provides advice for small businesses on compliance with age of sale requirements via the Business Companion website.
We believe that the current enforcement measures are proportionate. However, we will continue to monitor the evidence regarding underage or illegal sales.