Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of any positive impact in the overall health of under 35 year old smokers arising from tax and packaging measures that they have imposed.

Tobacco taxation is a proven and effective means to reduce smoking and a disincentive for young people to take up smoking in the first place. The Government consulted on the introduction of standardised packaging and published an impact assessment, which included benefits to public health. For the purposes of this impact assessment, the conservative assumption was made that no harm is incurred by smoking under the age of 35, due to the lack of precise data to quantify benefits from not smoking under this age. That said, the impact assessment notes that for every young person who no longer starts smoking for example, life expectancy improves by 2.1 years. The Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations 2015 came into force on 20 May 2016; the Government has a commitment to review these regulations by 2020.