Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities will be resuming the annual evidence reviews on tobacco-based products previously undertaken by Public Health England.

Public Health England did not previously publish annual evidence reviews on tobacco-based products. However, Public Health England did publish a series of reports on nicotine vaping products over 10 years. They are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/e-cigarettes-and-vaping-policy-regulation-and-guidance

These reports aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation tool. Heated tobacco products were also assessed in two of the reports. The final report in the commission was published in 2022, and is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nicotine-vaping-in-england-2022-evidence-update

The Department continues to monitor emerging data, and we are working closely with stakeholders and experts, including internationally, to ensure we are researching the long-term health impacts of vaping. We are exploring additional research and will set out plans in due course.