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.

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.