Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will require companies to use plain packaging on vaping products.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Government has no plans to ban vaping in public enclosed places, nor to ban vaping in cars carrying children. In 2016, the Government published guidance to inform evidence-based policy making on vaping in public places, which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/use-of-e-cigarettes-in-public-places-and-workplaces
Organisations can use this guidance should they wish to implement their own evidence-based polices. Regarding plain packaging, our recently launched youth vaping call for evidence explores issues related to the appearance of vaping products. Once this closes on 6 June 2023, the Government will assess a range of options based on the evidence provided, including potential future changes to vaping policy and regulation.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will introduce a ban on vaping in (a) public places and (b) cars carrying children.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Government has no plans to ban vaping in public enclosed places, nor to ban vaping in cars carrying children. In 2016, the Government published guidance to inform evidence-based policy making on vaping in public places, which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/use-of-e-cigarettes-in-public-places-and-workplaces
Organisations can use this guidance should they wish to implement their own evidence-based polices. Regarding plain packaging, our recently launched youth vaping call for evidence explores issues related to the appearance of vaping products. Once this closes on 6 June 2023, the Government will assess a range of options based on the evidence provided, including potential future changes to vaping policy and regulation.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help prevent the illegal sale of e-cigarettes to people aged under 18.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
We have regulations in place to discourage underage vaping. The law protects children through restricting sales of vapes to over-18-year-olds only, limiting nicotine content, refill bottle and tank sizes, and through labelling requirements and advertising restrictions.
The Government provides funding to local authorities in support of local trading standards activity. On 11 April 2023, we announced £3 million of funding for a new national illicit vaping enforcement unit to tackle illicit and underage vape sales across the country.
Asked by: Ben Everitt (Conservative - Milton Keynes North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions Border Force has had with Trading Standards on tackling the importation of illegal e-cigarette devices.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Building on an already close relationship, Border Force is working with Trading Standards at a number of locations around the UK, agreeing processes and ways of working that help ensure illegal e-cigarettes are prevented from entering the UK.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with (a) e-cigarette manufacturers and (b) local authorities on the environmentally-friendly disposal of e-cigarettes.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Secretary of State has not had any discussions with representatives of the vaping industry or local authorities on the environmental impact of electronic cigarettes. Defra and environment agency officials are working closely with the vaping industry and waste electricals recycling sector on compliance with legal obligations for the collection and treatment of waste vapes.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the potential health risks of e-cigarettes for children.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Department’s assessment of the risk of vaping is based upon a series of evidence reviews commissioned over the past several years. The latest, ‘Nicotine vaping in England: 2022 evidence main findings’, was published in September 2022.
The report concludes that in the short and medium term, vaping poses a small fraction of the risks of smoking, but that vaping is not risk-free. Nicotine is highly addictive and can be harmful, and there are unanswered questions on the effects of longer-term use.
The Government is clear that vaping should only be used to help adults quit smoking; vapes should not be used by people under 18 or non-smokers.
Asked by: Samantha Dixon (Labour - City of Chester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) reduce the number of young people recreationally using e-cigarettes and (b) prevent young people moving from using e-cigarettes to tobacco cigarettes or other tobacco products.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Government is clear that vaping should only be used to help people quit smoking. Vapes should not be used by people under 18 years old or non-smokers. Vapes are not risk-free, nicotine is highly addictive and can be harmful, and there are unanswered questions on the effects of longer-term use.
We have regulations in place to discourage underage vaping. The law protects children through restricting sales of vapes to over-18-year-olds only, limiting nicotine content, refill bottle and tank sizes, labelling requirements and through advertising restrictions.
In October 2022, we published new content on the potential risks of vaping for young people on the FRANK and Better Health websites and we have provided input to educational resources produced by partners including the PSHE Association. We are also developing a new resource pack for schools on vaping which will be made available before the end of the school year.
There is currently no evidence that young people move from using vapes to tobacco products, including cigarettes.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether (a) her Department and (b) the Office for Product Safety and Standards plan to take steps to assess the safety of vaping; and what she plans to take to ensure the safety of vaping products.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
All vaping products need to comply with existing product safety regulation. Such products must be both safe and compliant with any restrictions relating to their sale. For example, this includes product safety regulations that apply to the batteries and chargers.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for implementing a number of provisions under Part 6 of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016, with the enforcement of these provisions predominantly delivered by Trading Standards. The regulations ensure minimum standards for the safety and quality of all e-cigarettes and refill containers.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions her Department has had with (a) Trading Standards and (b) the Office for Product Safety and Standards on e-cigarette manufacturer Elf Bar overfilling e-cigarette devices.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) is part of the Department of Business and Trade. OPSS has discussed Elf Bar e-cigarettes with Trading Standards as part of ongoing discussions regarding the compliance of vape devices with product safety regulations. There is also ongoing work by Trading Standards and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to continue to raise awareness of non-compliant devices and, where appropriate, take enforcement action including withdrawing them from the point of sale.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Retained EU Law Bill, whether he plans to review the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 to (a) support e-cigarettes as a reduced harm alternative to cigarettes and (b) regulate non-nicotine containing e-liquids.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Through the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, the Government is currently reviewing which retained European Union (EU) law should be repealed, reformed or preserved. The Government continues to work with a range of stakeholders to ensure that any such reforms maintain current standards in patient safety and public health.