Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to work with relevant authorities to tackle the illegal sale of cigarettes in (a) England and (b) the parliamentary constituency of Romford.

The Government is committed to reducing the number of illicit tobacco and vaping products on sale nationally.

In January 2024, HMRC and Border Force published their latest illicit tobacco strategy, ‘Stubbing Out the Problem’. This sets out the Governments’ continued commitment to restrict the trade in illicit tobacco with a focus on reducing demand, and to tackle and disrupt organised crime groups. This strategy is supported by £100 million of new smokefree funding allocated over 5 years to boost existing HMRC and Border Force enforcement capability.

HMRC are also working closely with both Trading Standards and Border Force to develop a robust compliance approach for the introduction of Vaping Products Duty (VPD) on 1 October 2026.