Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on supporting smokers in Northern Ireland to quit.

The landmark Tobacco and Vapes Bill was introduced into Parliament on 5 November 2024 and will be the single biggest public health intervention since the Government banned smoking in indoor public spaces.

This bill goes further than ever before. It will create the first smoke-free generation, gradually phasing out the sale of tobacco products across the country, enable the Government to strengthen the existing ban on smoking in public places, to reduce the harms of passive smoking in certain outdoor settings, ban vapes and nicotine products from being promoted and advertised to children, and introduce tougher enforcement measures, including through providing powers to introduce a retail licensing scheme for tobacco and vapes.

The bill has been developed in partnership with the Northern Ireland Executive, the Scottish Government, and the Welsh Government. The Department has engaged extensively with all the devolved administrations throughout the process of drafting the bill. I also have liaised directly with Minister Nesbitt and his department's officials on the bill’s contents and progress, and will continue to do so..

Stop smoking services and support for smokers to quit are devolved matters, and support for smokers to quit in Northern Ireland is for the Northern Ireland Executive to determine.