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: 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, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December to Question 4083 on Tobacco, whether he plans to publish the Office for Budget Responsibility’s assessment of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill before its presentation.
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 deaths in the United Kingdom a year and one in four of all cancer deaths in the UK. It costs our country £17 billion a year, of which £14 billion is through lost productivity alone. It puts huge pressure on the National Health Service and social care, costing over £3 billion a year.
We are not aware of any plans by the Office for Budget Responsibility to publish an assessment of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill. However, we do plan to publish an impact assessment of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill in due course.
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 her planned timetable is to respond to the consultation entitled Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping.
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 deaths in the United Kingdom a year, and one in four of all UK cancer deaths. It costs our country £17 billion a year, of which £14 billion is through lost productivity alone. It puts huge pressure on the National Health Service and social care, costing over £3 billion a year.
We plan to publish the Government response to the consultation shortly, ahead of the introduction of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.
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, when she plans to publish a response to the consultation on Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping.
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 deaths in the United Kingdom a year, and one in four of all UK cancer deaths. It costs our country £17 billion a year, of which £14 billion is through lost productivity alone. It puts huge pressure on the National Health Service and social care, costing over £3 billion a year.
We plan to publish the Government response to the consultation shortly, ahead of the introduction of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.
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 progress her Department has made on drafting the Tobacco and Vapes Bill; and what steps she is taking to ensure that the Bill takes into account the responses to the consultation on Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping.
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 deaths in the United Kingdom yearly, and one in four of all UK cancer deaths. It costs our country £17 billion a year, including £14 billion of lost productivity alone. It puts huge pressure on the National Health Service and social care, costing over £3 billion a year.
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is currently being finalised and will be introduced in this parliamentary session. The Bill will create the first smokefree generation, crack down on youth vaping, and will enable the Government to enforce the new rules. The Bill will be informed by the recent consultation ‘Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping’ the response of which will be published shortly.
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, with reference to the consultation on Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping, updated by her Department on 20 October 2023, whether her Department plans to mitigate the potential impact of the proposals in that consultation on adults using vapes as a smoking cessation tool.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Due to nicotine content and the unknown long-term harms, vaping carries risks to health and lifelong addiction for children. The health advice is clear that young people and people who have never smoked should not vape.
This is why the Government is consulting on measures to reduce the appeal and availability of vapes to children. These measures will need to balance having the biggest impact on youth vaping with ensuring vapes continue to support adult smokers to quit
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, with reference to the Answer of 26 October 2023 to Question 203835 on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Drugs, when she expects to see ADHD Medication availability return to its regular levels.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has been working closely with the respective manufacturers of medicine used for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Some issues have now been resolved; however, we know that there continue to be disruptions to the supply of some other medicines, which should resolve by April 2024.
We have well-established processes to manage supply issues and continue to work with the respective manufacturers and all relevant stakeholders to ensure that the supply disruptions are resolved as soon as possible.
We understand how frustrating and distressing medicine shortages can be and we want to assure patients that we are working with the respective manufacturers to resolve the issues with ADHD medicine supply in the United Kingdom as soon as possible and to help ensure patients are able to access these medicines in the short and long term.
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, with reference to the consultation on Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping, updated by her Department on 20 October 2023, whether she plans to update that consultation to reflect the planned repeal of the generational smoking ban in New Zealand.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Smoking is responsible for around 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom and causes around one in four cancer deaths in the UK. It also costs our country £17 billion a year and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service.
Vaping is rightly used by adults as a tool to quit smoking as they are substantially less harmful than cigarettes. However, 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.
Whilst New Zealand plan to repeal their legislation, the Government is still planning to create a smokefree generation by bringing forward legislation so that children turning 14 years old or younger this year will never be legally sold tobacco products, and further crack down on youth vaping by consulting on measures to reduce the appeal and availability of vapes to children. On 12 October 2023, we launched a UK-wide consultation to gather views on these proposals and their implementation.
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, with reference to the consultation on Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping, updated by her Department on 20 October 2023, if she will publish an Impact Assessment of the proposals in that consultation.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Smoking is responsible for around 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom and causes around one in four cancer deaths in the UK. It also costs our country £17 billion a year and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service.
Vaping is rightly used by adults as a tool to quit smoking. They are substantially less harmful than cigarettes. However, 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.
This is why the Government is planning to create a smokefree generation by bringing forward legislation so that children turning 14 years old or younger this year will never be legally sold tobacco products, and further crack down on youth vaping by consulting on measures to reduce the appeal and availability of vapes to children.
We will publish our Impact Assessment shortly.
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, draft Tobacco and Vapes Bill whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the vaping proposals contained in that consultation on smoking cessation.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Smoking is responsible for around 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom and causes around one in four cancer deaths in the UK. It also costs our country £17 billion a year and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service.
Vaping is rightly used by adults as a tool to quit smoking. They are substantially less harmful than cigarettes. However, 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.
This is why the Government is planning to create a smokefree generation by bringing forward legislation so that children turning 14 years old or younger this year will never be legally sold tobacco products, and further crack down on youth vaping by consulting on measures to reduce the appeal and availability of vapes to children.
We will publish our Impact Assessment shortly.