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 adequacy of scientific evidence on vape flavours as a smoking cessation aid.

The youth vaping call for evidence, published in 2023, demonstrated that vape flavours are one of the main reasons that vapes appeal to children. However, we recognise that vape flavours can also be a consideration for adult smokers seeking to quit smoking.

That is why it is important we strike the balance between restricting vape flavours to reduce their appeal to young people, whilst ensuring vapes remain available for adult smokers as a smoking cessation tool.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill includes regulation making powers to limit vape flavours, to reduce the appeal to children. Before laying any regulations in Parliament, we will undertake a full public consultation to ensure we get this balance right and consider the views of a range of stakeholders. We will publish thorough impact assessments to accompany any future regulations, including future flavour restrictions. These assessments will consider the international evidence available.

In October 2025, we launched a call for evidence to gather information on flavours and substances in vaping, nicotine, and tobacco products, aiming to better understand the role and risks of flavourings and ingredients. The call for evidence also seeks to identify where efforts to control flavours have been effective or not.

Adult smokers will still be able to access vapes as well as alternative methods to support them to stop smoking. Vapes are commonly used alongside behavioural support within local Stop Smoking Services.