Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that any research findings on the potentially detrimental effects of using electronic cigarettes is taken into account in NHS policy on use of those cigarettes.

The Government has taken a precautionary approach and actively put in place measures to prevent initiation of e-cigarette use by children. These include legislation to restrict age of sale, proxy purchase and the advertising of e-cigarettes. In addition, the use of e-cigarettes is regularly monitored. To date, data shows no significant level of regular use in children.

Public Health England has published the guidance ‘Use of e-cigarettes in public places and workplaces’ which can be used locally by the National Health Service to set their policy on the use of e-cigarettes. This advice takes into account the current evidence on these products. The evidence base is kept under regular review as new data becomes available.