Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of levels of vaping by young people.

The Government is concerned about the worrying rise in vaping among children, as rates of youth vaping have tripled in the past four years, and 18% of children have tried a vape. All too often, vaping products are promoted in a way that appeals to children, despite the risks of nicotine addiction and the unknown harms.

To address this, the Tobacco and Vapes Bill will reduce the appeal and availability of vapes to children. The bill will stop vapes from deliberately being branded and advertised to children, including regulations on flavours, packaging, and changing how and where they are displayed in shops. The bill will be introduced to Parliament soon.

We will publish an impact assessment for the bill shortly, and we will publish further impact assessments alongside our future vaping regulations. We will also undertake an implementation review after a set period to determine the effect of these policies on youth vaping rates.