Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to promote vaping products as an effective way for smokers to quit smoking.

The Government’s Tobacco Control Plan for England commits Public Health England (PHE) to include in its quit smoking campaigns messages about e-cigarettes.

Since the publication of the Plan in July 2017, PHE’s annual Stoptober campaign has featured e-cigarettes as one of the evidence-based quitting support options for smokers, and the New Year smoking health harms awareness campaign has made clear the reduction in health risk when a smoker switches completely to vaping.

PHE encourages all local Stop Smoking Services in England to provide additional support to people who want to use an e-cigarette in their quit attempt to maximise their chance of success. The NHS Long Term Plan, published in January 2019, includes a new universal smoking cessation offer for long-term users of specialist mental health services, the option of switching to e-cigarettes while in inpatient settings.