Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con) I beg to move, That this House has
considered the Smokefree 2030 target. It is a pleasure to serve
under your chairmanship once again, Mr Evans, and thank you for
stepping in to ensure that the debate can take place. We will be
considering the 17 April statement to the House on achieving a
smokefree England by 2030, cutting smoking and stopping kids
vaping. The debate is co-sponsored by me, in my capacity as
chairman of the...Request free trial
(Harrow East) (Con)
I beg to move,
That this House has considered the Smokefree 2030 target.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship once again, Mr
Evans, and thank you for stepping in to ensure that the debate
can take place. We will be considering the 17 April statement to
the House on achieving a smokefree England by 2030, cutting
smoking and stopping kids vaping.
The debate is co-sponsored by me, in my capacity as chairman of
the all-party parliamentary group on smoking and health, and by
my friend, the hon. Member for City of Durham (), who is a vice-chair of
the group. The APPG wants to ensure that Parliament has the
chance to debate the announcement made by the Under-Secretary of
State for Health and Social Care, my hon. Friend the Member for
Harborough (Neil O’Brien), and to consider whether those measures
are sufficient to end smoking by 2030 and level up the health and
wellbeing of some of the most deprived communities in the
country.
At the outset, I commend my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary for
announcing the first tobacco control measures since the
Government set out their Smokefree 2030 ambition way back in
2019. Since 2021, the APPG has been calling for greater funding
to help smokers to swap and to stop, and to provide incentives to
help pregnant smokers to quit. We are extremely pleased to see
that those measures have been taken forward.
However, while the measures recently introduced by the Government
to achieve a Smokefree 2030 are welcome, they are insufficiently
ambitious, as they provide only a quarter of the funding called
for by the Government’s own independent review last year.
Meanwhile, big tobacco continues to make extreme profits selling
highly addictive, lethal products that kill if they are used
correctly.
The idea of a levy on the industry is popular and feasible, and
is supported by voters of all political persuasions, as well as
the majority of tobacco retailers. The manufacturers clearly have
the money and high profits, so they should be made to pay to end
the epidemic. This is more than just a health crisis because
delivering a Smokefree 2030 is integral to delivering economic
growth, which is a mantra for the Government and for Opposition
parties.
Analysis conducted by Landman Economics on behalf of ASH—Action
on Smoking and Health—found that, in addition to causing around
75,000 premature deaths a year in the UK, in 2022 smoking cost
the economy a staggering £173 billion, including lost
productivity and premature death.
Let me break those figures down. The cost to the public finances
was £21 billion, which is nearly double the tobacco tax revenues
of £11 billion. The cost to the NHS was £2.2 billion, and to
social care £1.3 billion. Those figures are substantial, but they
pale into insignificance beside the £5 billion of social security
payments and the £11.8 billion of lost income tax and national
insurance—people who are sick from smoking are unable to work.
That is public money, and it will continue literally to go up in
smoke for years to come unless we take urgent and bold
action.
I welcome the measures announced by the Minister in April, but I
recognise that they still fall well short of the recommendations
in Dr Javed Khan’s independent review. Of the four “must do”
measures recommended by Dr Khan, only one—promoting vaping for
adult smokers—has been fully adopted by the Government. The
recommendation to improve prevention in the NHS has been
partially implemented via the new NHS long-term plan with respect
to tobacco treatment services, but those have been constrained by
a lack of funding.
Dr Khan’s top two recommendations, which are increased investment
in tobacco control and increasing the age of sale, have not been
adopted, which has left tobacco control efforts desperately
underfunded and put the Smokefree 2030 ambition in critical
jeopardy. While I commend the Government’s ambition and
commitment to make smoking obsolete by 2030, to date that
ambition has not been matched by funding. Dr Khan’s independent
review made it clear that a Smokefree 2030 cannot be delivered on
the cheap. Speaking recently on improved public sector
productivity, the Chancellor stated that
“we count the number of hospital treatments but not the value of
preventative care, even though that saves lives and reduces
cost.”
I could not agree more.
Public health interventions, such as smoking cessation, cost
three to four times less than NHS treatment for each additional
year of good health achieved in the population, yet this is where
the largest budget cuts have fallen to date, with the public
health grant falling by a quarter in real terms since 2015 and
funding for tobacco control falling by almost half. Local
authorities have done their best to continue delivering vital
tobacco control activity despite these funding cuts, but there is
much more that we can do. If the Government are serious about the
Smokefree 2030 ambition, they cannot keep asking local government
to do more with less. More funding must be made available to
deliver it.
Last year, Dr Javed Khan called on the Government to urgently
invest an additional £125 million per year in a comprehensive
Smokefree 2030 programme. One of his options for raising that
money was a “polluter pays” levy on tobacco manufacturers, based
on the principle that those responsible for the problem should be
required to fix it. The principle has been accepted on numerous
occasions: the landfill levy; the tax on sugar in soft drinks;
requiring developers to pay for the costs of remediating building
safety defects; and, most recently, a statutory gambling levy.
The “polluter pays” model would enable the Government to limit
the ability of manufacturers to profit from smokers while
protecting Government excise tax revenues. That will prevent big
tobacco gaming the system as it currently does with corporation
tax.
Despite paying little corporation tax, the big four tobacco
companies make around 50% net operating profits in the UK—far
higher than the average of 10% for UK manufacturers overall.
Imperial Brands is the most profitable, with 40% market share in
the UK and over 70% net operating profits in 2021. Why should an
industry whose products diminish the health of users be allowed
to make such excessive profits? A levy could raise £700 million a
year while capping the profits on sales to ensure that the costs
are not passed on to smokers. Some £700 million from tobacco
manufacturers would more than cover the £125-million additional
funding that Dr Khan estimated was needed for tobacco control,
with money left over for other prevention and public health
measures.
[Mr in the Chair]
Amendments to the Health and Care Act 2022 calling for a
consultation on such a levy were tabled by the hon. Member for
City of Durham, who is co-sponsor of this debate, and were
accepted in the House of Lords last year. Health Ministers were
sympathetic, but the Treasury opposed the measure, so it was
voted down by the Government, despite overwhelming public support
for a levy. Some 75% of the British public think that tobacco
manufacturers should be made to pay. My first question to the
Minister is: can he tell me, if the Government will not commit to
a levy on tobacco manufacturers, how, when and where will they
find the additional funding needed to deliver the Smokefree 2030
ambition? Since 2020, public health Ministers have committed to
publishing a new tobacco control plan, initially by July 2021 and
then by the end of 2022—we are still waiting. The previous
tobacco control plan expired last year, leaving us without a
strategy or any targets for reducing smoking rates among the most
disadvantaged groups.
In the absence of national leadership, local authorities are
stepping up to the plate. For example, the London Tobacco
Alliance, which I am proud to support, launched last year. It is
leading the charge to make the capital smoke-free by 2030. I am
sure the Minister will join me in commending the alliance and
other regional partnerships across the country that are committed
to tackling smoking in their communities. In place of a tobacco
control plan, the Minister has said that tackling smoking will be
“central” to the major conditions strategy. However, the recent
call for evidence for that strategy was not reassuring, and
certainly did not place smoking front and centre. My second
question is: if the Minister will not commit to a new tobacco
control plan—I wish he would—can he at least reaffirm that
smoking will be central to the major conditions strategy and that
further tobacco control measures will be included in the major
conditions strategy when it is finally published? I assure the
Minister that he has the full support of the APPG in his efforts
to tackle youth vaping, and recent announcements by both the
Minister and the Prime Minister are warmly welcomed.
My views on youth vaping were summed up expertly by the chief
medical officer:
“If you smoke, vaping is much safer; if you don’t smoke, don’t
vape; marketing vapes to children is utterly unacceptable.”
The APPG is deeply concerned about recent figures published by
ASH showing that there has been a significant rise in youth
experimentation with nicotine e-cigarettes, driven by cheap,
colourful disposable vapes and child-friendly marketing.
(Penrith and The Border)
(Con)
I congratulate my hon. Friend and the hon. Member for City of
Durham () on securing this debate.
Although I acknowledge that vaping has a role in helping adults
to quit tobacco smoking, youth vaping has unintended
consequences, as my hon. Friend is starting to elaborate. We have
seen a surge in such vaping, and there are huge health and
environmental concerns. As he said, the products are targeted at
young people, with colourful packaging and flavouring. The
Government have taken some strong steps. Does my hon. Friend
agree that we need to go faster to stop this unintended
public-health ticking time bomb?
I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. It reminds me that
11 years ago I led a debate in this place on introducing
standardised packaging for tobacco products. At the time, both
the Government and the Opposition said they had no plans to
support such a measure. Of course, we now have standardised
packaging of tobacco products. I hope we can get standardised
packaging of vaping products as well.
The Government recently issued a call for evidence on the best
approaches for tackling youth vaping. I look forward to seeing
the response. First and foremost, the Government should make
disposable vapes, which are the worst things for the economy,
much less affordable, by adding a £5 excise tax. That would also
make the distribution of those products subject to much more
stringent controls, making it easier to prevent illicit and
underage sales. It would in particular ban the issuing of free
samples to young people.
Will the Minister tell us when the Government’s response to the
call for evidence on youth vaping will be published, and whether
it will include specific enhanced regulation to address loopholes
in the law? I welcome the Minister’s commitment to adapting the
tobacco trace and trace system, to strengthen enforcement and to
target the illicit market. I particularly welcome the Minister’s
commitment to exploring how to share information with local
partners about who is registered on the track and trace system,
which is critical.
(Dartford) (Con)
Does my hon. Friend agree that there is a critical role for
trading standards in enforcing measures against illegal vapes,
counterfeit tobacco and underage sales? We could greatly secure
the environment for the consumer by trading standards enforcing
the laws.
My hon. Friend must have read the next part of my speech. At
present, trading standards officers have one arm tied behind
their back in the fight against illicit tobacco, due to a lack of
options for identifying and cracking down on retailers who
repeatedly flout tobacco regulation. We know that retailers who
sell illicit tobacco products are much more likely to sell
tobacco to children, undermining tobacco-control regulations.
They also seek to hook children on the addictive product that
kills more than half of long-term users, by giving or selling
them vapes in the first place.
Retailers are required to have an economic operator ID before
they can trade in tobacco, under the current tobacco tracking and
tracing regulations. Through adaptation of that system, local
enforcement will easily be able to identify retailers who are
breaking the law, and hold them accountable. That is the approach
that I recommend in my ten-minute rule Bill, which would
introduce a retail licensing system, similar to the one that
exists for alcohol. Retail licensing for tobacco was recommended
in Dr Khan’s independent review.
The Minister will be pleased to know that that approach has the
support of the public and retailers. Survey evidence from ASH,
published last autumn, found that more than eight in 10 small
tobacco retailers support the introduction of a tobacco licence,
backed by mandatory age verification. Will the Minister commit to
publishing further detail on his plans to strengthen the track
and trace system, before Second Reading of my ten-minute rule
Bill on retail licensing in November?
It is undeniable that big tobacco and those representing its
interests never cease in their attempts to undermine public
policy, not just on tobacco but on vaping. Only last weekend, The
Observer revealed that lobbyists connected to big tobacco were
funding Facebook campaigns opposing new vaping regulations.
Regulations, I think we can all agree, are desperately needed to
protect children. It was exceptionally well timed, therefore,
that yesterday the Department of Health and Social Care published
guidance for all parts of Government on our legal obligations to
protect public policy from the commercial and vested interests of
the industry—guidance that I very warmly welcome. The Department
of Health and Social Care, as custodian of the World Health
Organisation framework convention on tobacco control, has been
staunch in its support for that treaty and has upheld our legal
obligation to strictly limit any engagement with the industry
solely to that required for effective regulation of the industry.
Will the Minister put it on the record that Government—the
Executive, legislature and judiciary—are required to limit
interactions not just with tobacco manufacturers but with any
organisations or individuals with affiliations to the tobacco
industry, including lobbyists or industry trade bodies, such as
the UK Vaping Industry Association, which lists big tobacco among
its members?
Mr Sharma, it is good to see you in the Chair; thank you for
stepping in. When the Government initially announced their
Smokefree 2030 ambition, it was described as “extremely
challenging”. Four years on, not only has the challenge increased
but the need for action has become more urgent. Cancer Research
UK estimates that we will miss achieving the ambition by nine
years; it will be even longer for the most disadvantaged in
society. I am sure that the Minister agrees that that is not
acceptable, so I wish to remind him of comments that he made in
his previous role as a Minister for levelling up. He said
that
“ultimately on public health and on prevention, we need to think
extremely radically and really floor it, because otherwise the
NHS will just be under humongous pressure for the rest of our
lifetimes because of an ageing population.”
The proposals brought forward to date have been radical, but are
not yet sufficient. There is nothing on key measures recommended
by the APPG and by Dr Khan in last year’s review, which included
reinstating funding that was cut for behaviour change campaigns,
raising the age of sale, retail licensing, and tougher
regulations for tobacco as well as vaping. I hope that when the
Minister replies to this debate, he can assure the Chamber that
the major conditions strategy will be published this year and
will contain further measures—and funding—sufficiently radical to
achieve our ambition for a smoke-free future, not just in England
but throughout the United Kingdom. I look forward to hearing the
contributions of other colleagues on this important matter, and
thank you, Mr Sharma, for allowing this important debate to take
place today.
Several hon. Members rose—
(in the Chair)
Order. I have two announcements to make before I call the next
speaker. This debate will still finish at 11 am. I intend to
start calling Opposition Front Benchers at 10.30 am. Rather than
setting a time limit now, I make this request of all Members: try
to be brief, so that everybody can contribute. I hope that, in
that way, we can deal with the situation. I call .
9.58am
(City of Durham) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Sharma, and
to follow my co-sponsor of this debate, the hon. Member for
Harrow East (). He is also the chairman of the all-party
parliamentary group on smoking and health, of which I am a
vice-chair. I declare that interest.
As we have heard, the measures announced by the Minister in April
were a step in the right direction. However, they fell very short
of the comprehensive strategy outlined by the APPG and the Khan
review, and it has taken far too long—almost four years—for the
Government to get going on this. In the meantime, tobacco
continues to kill an estimated one person every five minutes in
Britain. The deaths are disproportionately concentrated in
regions such as the north-east—regions that have some of the
highest rates of poverty and, in turn, the highest rates of
smoking in England. In the north-east, nearly 13,000 people died
prematurely from smoking between 2017 and 2019. This has an
economic cost for our communities of over £100 million in
healthcare costs and £64 million in social care costs. All the
while, tobacco companies make record profits, leaving the
taxpayer and families to pick up the pieces.
We are fortunate in the north-east to have a highly effective
regional tobacco control programme—Fresh—funded by all the local
authorities in the region and the local integrated care board,
and it has proven successful over the years. Just yesterday, it
launched a new behavioural change campaign called “Smoking
Survivors”, which features two women from the north-east who have
quit smoking and survived cancer. However, national funding for
behavioural change campaigns such as that fell by around 90%
between 2008 and 2018. Although regional activity is vital, we
need strong leadership from the Government if we are to see every
region be smoke free by 2030.
Like the hon. Member for Harrow East, I welcome the Minister’s
recent announcement on tackling youth vaping, but why did it take
so long for the Government to act? When the Health and Care Act
2022 was going through Parliament in 2021, I tabled amendments
that would have given the Government powers to prohibit
child-friendly branding on e-cigarette packaging and to ban the
free distribution of vapes to under-18s, which, as we know, has
strong cross-party support. To my amazement, not only did the
Government fail to adopt my amendments, but they voted them
down.
As the Minister will remember, one of Dr Khan’s must-do
recommendations was raising the age of sale for tobacco beyond
18, so I was disappointed not to see that included in the April
announcement. The all-party group has already urged the
Government to launch a public consultation on raising the age of
sale, and I urge them to do that too.
I will end with a few questions for the Minister, which probably
echo what the hon. Member for Harrow East asked. Will the
Minister commit to consulting on a “polluter pays” levy to raise
funding for a comprehensive tobacco control strategy?
Will the Government consider measures to address the
affordability, accessibility, appeal and advertising of vapes,
which were recommended by ASH in its response to the Government’s
call for evidence on youth vaping? Once again, I highlight the
fact that big tobacco companies rigorously lobby against vaping
regulations, so I would like the Minister to take note of
that.
Will the Minister confirm that a consultation on raising the age
of sale will be considered? Finally, will he reassure the House
that a comprehensive strategy to address smoking and vaping will
be delivered—if not through the tobacco control plan, as promised
by his predecessors, then in the forthcoming major conditions
strategy?
(in the Chair)
I urge Members to stick to about five minutes.
10.03am
(Southport) (Con)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Sharma. I
congratulate the hon. Member for City of Durham () and my hon. Friend the
Member for Harrow East () on securing this important debate. The Department
of Health and Social Care’s announcement in response to the Khan
smoking review of last year was a positive step to ensure the UK
remains a world leader on harm reduction and has a strong chance
of reaching the Government’s ambitious Smokefree 2030 target.
That said, I worry there is a serious risk that the target will
be missed, with an estimated 13.3% of adults in the UK still
smoking. The Department’s announcement that a reduction in
smoking would also reduce the number of hospital admissions is
clearly correct. It would help the Government’s priority of
reducing NHS waiting lists.
The Government are taking a harm reduction approach to tackling
smoking. As the Minister said, the person who quits today is the
person who is not in a hospital bed tomorrow. I therefore welcome
the Government’s highly pragmatic approach to vapes, but only by
embracing all smoking alternatives—not just vaping, but gum,
patches and NHS stop smoking services—can the UK give itself the
best chance of hitting its Smokefree 2030 target, with the health
benefits that would result from that.
There are 3.3 million vapers in the UK, but vaping does not meet
the needs of all smokers looking to stop. Furthermore, because it
does not closely mimic smoking, 35% of current vapers use vapes
and cigarettes alongside one another, as confirmed by Action on
Smoking and Health. Other products, such as “heat not burn”, heat
tobacco rather than burning it, and therefore produce
substantially fewer harmful and potentially harmful chemicals
than cigarettes. They also mimic cigarettes much more closely
than vapes, which means that smokers who switch to them are less
likely to continue smoking. Importantly, studies have shown that
they are less attractive than vapes to younger people who have
never smoked.
That said, there are rightly concerns about youth uptake of
vaping. Vapes are designed for adult smokers who are trying to
quit, not for teenagers to use as a gateway to other nicotine
products. There is clearly a balance to be struck between
ensuring that vapes do not end up in the hands of young people
and not hindering the access of adult smokers to these
reduced-risk alternatives.
Tt international forums, the UK should stand up for this positive
harm-reduction approach to tackling smoking. Now that it has left
the EU, it can speak as a world leader on harm reduction,
alongside nations such as Sweden and Japan, to demonstrate the
powerful role that support for less harmful alternatives to
cigarettes can play in reducing smoking prevalence.
In 2018, when I sat on the Science and Technology Committee, we
called for independent research to be commissioned on the
relative risks of “heat not burn” tobacco products. The research
would fill the gap in knowledge and understanding of the impact
of these products and the relative harms compared to other
products, such as e-cigarettes, and would ensure that
evidence-based policymaking was not solely reliant on the
industry for scientific evidence. I stood—and indeed continue to
stand—firmly by that call from the Select Committee for proper
scientific research to be done. It is only when we have all the
facts that we can make the most effective decisions to help us
stop smoking by 2030, with all the health benefits that that
entails and all the lives it will save.
10.06am
Mrs (Birmingham, Erdington)
(Lab)
I thank the hon. Member for Harrow East () and my hon. Friend the Member for City of Durham
() for securing this
important debate. For seven years, I was the cabinet member on
Birmingham City Council overseeing public health. Because of
that, I have seen the long-term health impacts of smoking on
communities across both Birmingham and the UK.
It is shocking that one of the biggest causes of death in the
UK—causing around 150 cases of cancer per day—is entirely
preventable. Around 6.6 million adults currently smoke in the UK.
In Birmingham and Solihull, more than 10,000 people are admitted
to hospital per year as a result of smoking. As a district nurse,
I saw the effects that smoking can have on people both with and
without existing health conditions and how difficult it can be to
quit. I met patients with COPD—chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease—who were using oxygen to help them to breath and who
would still ask to be wheeled outside to smoke because they were
so addicted to smoking.
We have a very strong pro-smoking lobby in the UK. Action on
Smoking and Health reported that the tobacco industry works to
undermine public health measures and is increasing its marketing
plans, including to market to young people and to oppose
regulation. In the face of that, young people in my constituency
do not stand a chance. That is why we truly need strategies to
prevent our young people from starting smoking in the first
place.
I recognise that encouraging the use of e-cigarettes is a vital
part of the Government’s strategy. However, it is important that
we do not forget about the risk associated with them. Not enough
research has been done on vaping for us to know the long-term
effects, especially during pregnancy, and the impact on the lives
of children who vape, which are just starting to show through.
Last year, 40 children in England were admitted to hospital due
to vaping-related disorders, with 15 children under 10 admitted
due to the effects of vaping. We are relying on best estimates to
understand the impacts of vaping. It is vital that the Government
commit to proper research and enforcement, including clamping
down on the sale of e-cigarettes containing harmful levels of
nicotine.
The ambition is for England to be smoke free by 2030. It is a
welcome target, and the Government themselves have recognised
that it will need bold action. The Khan review, which was
published a year ago, found that, without further action, England
will miss the smoke-free target by at least seven years, and the
poorest areas, such as my communities in Erdington, Kingstanding
and Castle Vale, will not meet it until 2044. We are still to see
the Government’s new tobacco control plan more than a year
later.
It is ridiculous that, since the Smokefree 2030 target was
published—only three years ago—the Secretary of State has changed
four times. If we are serious about stopping smoking and
improving outcomes for all, we need an NHS fit for the future,
with the capacity to deliver long-term, ambitious targets for
public health. We need a serious Government, committed to backing
our health service. Only Labour can deliver on those
promises.
10.11am
(Strangford) (DUP)
I thank the hon. Members for Harrow East () and for City of Durham () for securing this
important debate. I am always pleased to come along and make a
contribution.
Although Northern Ireland does not yet have a smoke-free target,
I strongly support the Smokefree 2030 ambition. I welcomed the
Minister’s announcement in April, which set out a number of bold
and innovative measures. Putting in place the measures needed to
make England smoke free by 2030 will enhance efforts to tackle
smoking across the whole United Kingdom. Although Northern
Ireland and the other devolved nations hold responsibility for
their own health policies, the Government in Westminster maintain
responsibility for UK-wide policies, which will impact progress
in the devolved nations. I know that the Minister is always keen
to respond in a positive way; perhaps he could confirm that
discussions have taken place and tell us their outcome.
I particularly welcome the commitment to hold a consultation on
pack inserts. All of us have probably called for that—I know I
have—and I am pleased to see that it has been adopted by the
Government. Cigarette pack inserts providing health information
have been required in Canada since 2000, and there is substantial
evidence that they are effective. Research carried out in the UK
supports their use here too. I hope that the Minister will
confirm when the consultation will open—that is my first
question.
As the Minister knows, healthcare services are under severe
pressure across the United Kingdom. Tackling smoking, which is a
leading preventable cause of death and disease, killing 2,300
people in Northern Ireland each year, is vital if we are to ease
that pressure. In Northern Ireland, cases of lung cancer among
men are projected to increase by 74% by 2035. That is massive,
but the figures are even more massive for women, for whom cases
are projected to increase by 91%. Smoking is responsible for over
seven in 10 cases of lung cancer. Therefore, real, targeted
action needs to be taken. I am keen to get the Minister’s
thoughts on that.
In 2016-17, the estimated hospital costs for treating
smoking-related diseases in Northern Ireland were £172 million.
If we do not take urgent action now to reduce smoking rates, our
healthcare service will continue to face huge pressure. Analysis
by Cancer Research UK shows that current rates of decline in
Northern Ireland will not achieve the smoke-free ambition of
smoking rates of 5% or less until the late 2040s, which is a
decade after England. That means that our deprived populations
will not be smoke-free until 2050. We need to step up efforts to
achieve a smoke-free future at both the devolved level and the UK
level.
I was interested to see the Minister’s announcement on how the
Government intend to crack down on illicit tobacco and vaping
products. We can give some credit to the Government, and to the
Minister in particular, for the action they have put forward. The
sale of illicit tobacco undermines efforts to reduce smoking
rates. It is concentrated among poorer smokers and disadvantaged
communities, contributing to higher rates of smoking. Retailers
who sell illicit tobacco are much more likely to be happy to sell
to children, so the illicit market also poses a particular risk
to children’s health. Addressing the issue requires tackling not
just the supply but the demand for illicit tobacco in communities
where smoking is endemic.
The UK has made great strides in reducing the trade of illicit
tobacco in the last two decades, with a comprehensive
anti-smuggling strategy, which has more than halved the market
share of illicit cigarettes, from 22% in 2000-01 to 9% in 2021.
The Government need to be thanked and congratulated for that. It
is a very positive and clear strategy, and it is working, but we
need perhaps to sharpen it up a wee bit. There is still more to
be done.
The announcement that His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and
Border Force will publish an updated strategy to tackle illicit
tobacco is welcome. Northern Ireland, with its land border with
the EU, is particularly geographically vulnerable to illicit
trade run by criminal gangs, and we have a proliferation of
paramilitary groups on both sides using the illicit tobacco
sector to create moneys for their criminal uses. Border Force and
HMRC have a key role to play in tackling smuggled tobacco,
especially in our most disadvantaged communities, where smoking
rates are highest. It is not the Minister’s responsibility, but
perhaps he could give us some idea about how that co-operation
between the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Garda Síochána
and the mainland police here is working.
I also welcome the Minister’s commitment to adapting the tobacco
track and trace system to strengthen enforcement and target the
illicit market. In particular, the Minister’s commitment to
explore how to share with local partners information about who is
registered on the track and trace system is critical. Will he
confirm whether sharing information with local partners from the
track and trace system overseen by HMRC will be part of the new
strategy? It is important that it is. The Minister is nodding, so
I expect that the answer is yes, which would be good news. Will
he also tell us whether the new illicit tobacco strategy will be
launched before the summer recess? As MPs, we always like
timescales—I know I do, so perhaps he could respond positively to
that question.
10.16am
(Blaydon) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under you as Chair, Mr Sharma. I
commend the hon. Member for Harrow East () and my hon. Friend the Member for City of Durham
() for securing today’s
debate.
Smoking is not a lifestyle choice; it is a lethal addiction that
the vast majority of smokers enter into before they reach
adulthood. It is also an addiction that is increasingly
concentrated among the most disadvantaged in society. The Office
for National Statistics recently reported that over a third of
smokers are now among the poorest 20% of the population. Lest we
forget, that concentration of disadvantage is fuelled by the
tobacco industry, the ability of which to maximise its profits by
selling lethal and addictive products must be strictly regulated
if we are to achieve our Smokefree 2030 ambition and protect the
nation’s health.
My constituency, like that of my hon. Friend the Member for City
of Durham, is in the north-east, which is the most disadvantaged
region in the country, as well as having the lowest regional life
expectancy and among the highest smoking rates. It gives me
absolutely no pleasure to say that. In 2021, 22,000 adults in
Gateshead smoked, which cost the NHS £7 million and local
authority social care £5.4 million, as well as costing £66
million in lost productivity. Those costs are due entirely to
smoking and are entirely preventable.
Tobacco addiction has been levelling down communities across the
country for decades and will go on doing so until the Government
start to take action to deliver on their Smokefree 2030 ambition
for all in society. On average, smokers spend around £2,500 per
year on smoking. That is money they can ill afford. The total
spend in Gateshead is £55 million—an eye-watering amount that
goes up in smoke, with no benefit to the local community. Ending
smoking will significantly increase disposable income in poorer
communities such as mine, help grow the local economy, and
improve the health and wellbeing of our communities.
Members have spoken about the need for investment in stop smoking
services, which is indeed vital. The hon. Member for Harrow East
spoke passionately at a debate in March about the Smokefree 2030
ambition and the role of support for smokers in achieving that
goal. I wholeheartedly agree with him: smokers need to be
motivated and supported to quit. But, as we have heard, the
public health budget that funds local authority stop smoking
services has been cut by 45% in real terms since 2015. That
funding desperately needs to be reinstated if smokers are to get
the support they need and deserve. The Government have so far
failed to make the necessary funding available from the public
purse. That is why I support a levy on tobacco manufacturers to
pay for measures such as the stop smoking services needed to
deliver the Smokefree 2030 ambition. Will the Minister fulfil the
prevention Green Paper commitment to consider a “polluter pays”
approach to funding tobacco control? That funding is sorely
needed if we are to achieve our ambition of a Smokefree 2030.
Another area I want to look at is mental health. More investment
is desperately needed to tackle smoking among those with mental
health conditions as smoking is the leading cause of
significantly reduced life expectancy among people with a mental
health condition. Depending on the condition, life expectancy can
be reduced by between seven to 25 years and as many as one in
three smokers has a diagnosable mental health condition. Smoking
is an indirect cause of poor mental health across the whole
population through its impacts on physical health, income and
employment. It is also a direct cause because it increases the
risk of some mental health conditions, such as depression and
schizophrenia. Those factors form a cycle whereby smokers are at
greater risk of poor mental health and those with poor mental
health are at greater risk of becoming heavily addicted to
smoking and struggling to stop, further damaging their mental
health. Investment is desperately needed to break that cycle. I
could say much more on the issue. It is vital that we look at the
provisions in the NHS long-term plan. They, on their own, will
not reach the much larger group of smokers who need assistance to
quit.
The improving access to psychological therapies programme has
around 1,690,000 referrals a year and supports people with
conditions such as depression and anxiety. The smoking status of
clients of IAPT services is not routinely monitored. However,
given the high rates of smoking among people with common mental
health conditions, it is likely that around one in four clients
smokes, which is equivalent to 504,000 smokers a year taking part
in the IAPT programme. Pilot projects have shown that IAPT
therapists are willing and able to deliver support to quit and
that clients value the offer, so extending IAPT to include
smoking cessation treatment would be highly cost-effective as it
piggybacks on an existing service. But that still requires
investment.
Finally, I want to share concerns that others have raised about
the increase in youth vaping. Smokers with mental health
conditions have been found particularly to benefit from access to
e-cigarettes given their high levels of addiction and their
barriers to quitting. It is essential that we ensure that adult
smokers continue to have that help as a safer alternative to
smoking and a means of quitting, but we must drive down the
increasing rates of vaping in our children.
The hon. Lady is making an interesting speech. There is no doubt
that vaping saves lives when smokers convert to vaping. Although
we must do everything we can to stop children from accessing
vapes and dissuade non-smokers from taking up vaping, does she
agree that the last thing we want is to do anything at all that
prevents or dissuades smokers from switching to vaping or other
alternatives such as heat-not-burn products?
Of course, it is right that we do everything we can to help
adults stop smoking, but we also want to prevent young people
from accessing vaping. We do not know the long-term impact, and
it is important that we do not get non-smokers taking up smoking
because of some attractive bubblegum or strawberry-flavoured
vape. There are also environmental issues with disposable vapes,
which are often used. Yes, I agree with the hon. Gentleman, but
we must tackle the other side of the issue as well.
Fresh, the tobacco control programme in the north-east, and
Action on Smoking and Health have submitted strong,
evidence-based proposals for further regulation of vaping to the
consultation, which has just closed. The Government must act now,
without delay, to implement their proposals. My final question to
the Minister is this: will he commit to publishing concrete
proposals for regulation to tackle youth vaping before the summer
recess?
10.24am
(Arfon) (PC)
I congratulate the hon. Member for Harrow East () on securing the debate. I must confess to some
trepidation about taking part, because it is on an England-only
topic: health is devolved, as the hon. Member for Strangford
() pointed out. However, smoking is of specific and
acute importance to young people, and many young people from
Arfon work, live, love and play in England, so it has
relevance.
I am a former smoker. I smoked until my 30s, when a friend
pointed out the folly of rolling dried leaves up in paper and
setting fire to them in my mouth—that eventually persuaded me.
More relevantly, as long ago as 2005 I was a supporter of the
Smoking in Public Places (Wales) Bill, a private Member’s Bill
promoted by , the then Labour MP for
Cardiff North, that would have devolved power to the Welsh
Assembly to ban smoking in public places. Unfortunately, the then
UK Labour Government did not provide time for that Bill, and by
the time an England and Wales Bill had become law, more people
employed in bars, hotels and restaurants in Wales had contracted
fatal smoking-related diseases. I am not being too dramatic about
this: the lack of devolution in that instance actually cost
lives.
In Wales, as in England, smoking is the largest single cause of
preventable and premature death. Poverty is an issue. Wales is a
poor country: when we were in the European Union, parts of Wales
qualified for regional aid on the same basis as the most
poverty-stricken parts of the former Soviet bloc in eastern
Europe. That is how bad it was and, tragically, that is how bad
it remains.
Smoking is responsible for half the difference in life expectancy
between rich and poor. Smoking hits us hard in Wales: our smoking
rates are some of the highest among vulnerable populations. The
Welsh Government’s tobacco control plan, published in July 2022,
sets a target for Wales to become smoke free by 2030. Meanwhile,
England’s tobacco control plan has expired, and the promised
updates have been delayed time and again.
As I said, this is an England-only matter because health is
devolved. Health policy has diverged between Wales and England,
not least in that the wellbeing approach adopted in Wales is
markedly different from the illness policy introduced elsewhere.
Reducing smoking is an urgent element of that wellbeing approach.
However, many of the key policy interventions in Wales that
require legislation are reserved and must be voted through in
this Parliament. The Welsh Government do not have the power to
put warnings on individual cigarettes, put inserts in tobacco
packs or strengthen the regulation of e-cigarettes—by the way, if
they did, I suspect that those warnings would be in both our
languages, but that is a matter for another day. The Welsh
Government have even been told that they do not have the power to
raise the age of sale for tobacco to 21.
Those were all key measures that were recommended in the Khan
review and are supported by the people of Wales, but they cannot
be taken forward because of a lack of devolution and powers. By
being so slow, the UK Government are undermining the ability of
the Welsh Government to achieve their Smokefree 2030 ambition.
That ambition is supported by seven out of 10 people in Wales, a
figure that rises to eight out of 10 among those who voted for my
party, Plaid Cymru, at the last election.
The “polluter pays” levy is vital for Wales, as it is for
England. I was pleased to put my name, on behalf of Plaid, to the
amendments to the Health and Care Bill that the hon. Member for
City of Durham () tabled on Report, and
particularly to the amendment that called for a consultation on a
levy on tobacco manufacturers to pay for measures needed to
deliver a smoke-free future. If the Government had adopted that
amendment, we would now be much closer to achieving the target. A
UK-wide levy would have raised as much as £700 million per year,
which would have been sufficient to fund the programme both in
England and Wales.
There are many other regulations that would benefit Wales but
that need action from Westminster. Because of the time available,
let me just say that those measures include: warnings on
cigarettes; a ban on all tobacco flavours; prohibition of free
distribution of vapes to children; a ban on sweet names, bright
colours and cartoon characters on vapes, which are all so
appealing to children; and a requirement that tobacco packs have
inserts. These are all measures that the Government have refused
to adopt in the past and are still slow to adopt today.
Announcements on pack inserts and free vape distribution are
urgent, so that both Parliaments have clarity. Will the Minister
confirm the dates for the launch of the consultation on the pack
insert regulations that was announced in April, and at the very
least to reassure us that it will take place before the summer
recess?
(in the Chair)
I hope that the Front Benchers and the Minister will spare about
a minute or two for to wind up at the end of the debate.
10.30am
(Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
(SNP)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship today, Mr
Sharma, and I thank the hon. Members for Harrow East () and for City of Durham () for securing today’s
debate. This is absolutely vital issue that needs to get far more
attention than it has had.
It is good to hear the broad cross-party consensus in the debate.
Of course, as has already been mentioned by a number of speakers,
health is a devolved matter. However, smoking is a significant
public health issue in Scotland and a leading cause of
preventable ill health, premature death and disability.
In 2013, the Scottish Government set a target that children born
that year would reach adulthood in a smoke-free Scotland; our
target for that is 2034, a few years after the English target
date. A recent YouGov poll for ASH found that that 2034 target is
supported by three quarters of adults in Scotland, with even more
support coming from the supporters of my party—it was supported
by eight out of 10 of them at the last election. It is perhaps
worth remembering that the ban on smoking in public places came
into force in Scotland in the spring of 2006, with the rest of
the UK following soon afterwards.
As a footnote, the ban in Scotland came in on my birthday, which,
as a non-smoker, I thought was a wonderful thing. I thoroughly
enjoyed nights out a lot more afterwards. However, a much more
profound effect was felt by my friends who smoked. Almost all of
them have either stopped smoking completely or very significantly
reduced their consumption.
Research shows that the number of heart attacks in Scotland fell
by 74% between 1990 and 2014. Reduction in the number of people
smoking and the increased uptake of cholesterol testing and
statin drugs were cited as major contributory factors for that
fall. That is very positive and it backs up the evidence I have
seen with my own eyes among my friends and family connections.
Since 2013, smoking prevalence has fallen significantly, from 22%
to 14% now, but much remains to be done.
Smoking remains the leading cause of death in Scotland. Indeed,
in 2021 the Scottish health survey set out that smoking was the
cause of about one in five deaths and it is estimated that it
also causes around 100,000 hospital admissions a year. The
Scottish Government estimate that smoking costs NHS Scotland at
least £300 million and the true figure could be upwards of £500
million, with additional costs, such as lost productivity,
environmental and fire costs, calculated by Landman Economics at
another £500 million. That is money literally going up in smoke
for public services, as well as for smokers, at a time when the
cost of living crisis is hitting hard everywhere.
We should not forget that the average smoker in Scotland—I do not
know what the equivalent figures are for England, Wales or
Northern Ireland—consumes around 12 cigarettes a day, which means
they spend £1,875 a year on smoking. It remains pretty big
business. Of course, smoking prevalence is highest in the areas
that are most deprived, which further compounds health
inequalities and poverty issues.
As Scotland’s five-year tobacco control plan is set to be renewed
later this year, I hope for an ambitious set of policies that can
help us to achieve our goal of a smoke-free 2034. A range of
policies that aim to make smoking less visible, such as
prohibiting smoking in public playgrounds, are being considered.
However, there is only so much that can be done by Holyrood.
The Government’s Green Paper on prevention commits to considering
options for raising revenue to fund evidence-based tobacco
control, including a “polluter pays” approach, using mechanisms
set out in the Health Act 2006. That would be a public health
fund rather than a tax, modelled on the pharmaceutical pricing
scheme that is organised and collected by the Department of
Health and Social Care on behalf of England and the devolved
nations.
Three quarters of adults in Great Britain support making the
tobacco industry pay a levy or licence fee to Government for
measures to help smokers quit and to prevent young people from
taking up smoking. Tobacco must be the only product that kills
when it is used as intended. I had a smile moment when the hon.
Member for Arfon () mentioned why he stopped. I
always think of the Bob Newhart comedy sketch, for those of a
certain generation, about introducing tobacco to the western
world. If it had been found nowadays, no one would use it. That
makes me wonder why we continue.
The tobacco industry continues to make vast profits: on average,
50% of operating profits, compared with only 10% on average for
UK manufacturing. Big tobacco can—and should be made to—pay. A
“polluter pays” levy would be not a tax but a public health fund,
raising a fixed sum to pay for recurring costs of tobacco
control. Capping profits at 10% would prevent tobacco
manufacturers from passing on the cost to smokers and ensure that
tobacco taxes were not undermined.
The current pharmaceutical scheme, set out in the Health Act
2006, is administered by the DHSC, with the devolved
Administrations opting in. A tobacco control fund could easily be
operated on the same basis. Funding for evidence-based tobacco
control policies, such as public education campaigns, smoking
cessation services and enforcement, has declined since 2010. The
levy could restore funding for those vital activities, and
provide additional resource for the further activity needed to
reach a smoke-free generation throughout the UK’s nations. Will
the Minister listen to the public and commit to consulting on a
“polluter pays” levy to provide the funding needed to deliver
Smokefree 2030 through the rest of the UK, and to assist Scotland
with its 2034 target?
No debate on smoking could be complete without consideration of
vaping, which has come up several times today. For many, vapes
are a helpful route out of smoking and towards less harm. They
are potentially a useful aid for many adult smokers, which has
been proven by evidence from Cancer Research UK. However, as we
have heard today, understandable concerns about youth vaping are
growing, particularly about the cheap, disposable vapes most
widely used by children. There have been many calls throughout
Scotland to ban disposable vapes, and that movement is gaining
traction, with 21 of the 32 councils in Scotland now backing a
national ban on those products. It is true that single-use
e-cigarettes are often discarded irresponsibly and, because of
their composition, do not break down in the environment. Even if
users attempt to recycle them, as is theoretically possible, they
will find that the infrastructure required to do so does not
exist in many places.
I am particularly troubled by the rise in youth vaping, about
which several hon. Members have already expressed concern. Those
products should never have been intended for children or for
non-smokers, yet recent surveys have found an increase in
experimental use among 11- to 17-year-olds. The cynic in me
thinks that big tobacco may have designed those products to have
child appeal, and ensure a future generation of consumers.
Disposable vapes are brightly coloured, available in flavours
attractive to children, and are in a price range that is
accessible to those with limited funds. They should probably be
banned but, at the very least, an excise tax on disposables
should be introduced. That would put the price up and make them
far less affordable to children, thereby driving down the use of
these environmentally damaging products.
In conclusion, while the rate of smoking continues to fall in
Scotland, it remains too high to be confident about meeting our
targets of reducing it by 2034. We must all come together to
eliminate smoking and stop the spread of nicotine addiction. I
thank all hon. Members for their contributions and continued
dedication to trying to eliminate the UK’s leading cause of
preventable death. I urge Ministers to commit to implementing a
“polluter pays” levy to help fund much-needed tobacco control
action not just in England but throughout the devolved
nations.
10.39am
(Denton and Reddish)
(Lab)
It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Mr Sharma. At 9.30 am,
it would have been a pleasure to see anybody in the Chair. I
place on the record my thanks to you and Mr Evans for stepping
into the vacancy. I congratulate the hon. Member for Harrow East
() and my hon. Friend the Member for City of Durham
() on securing this important
debate and on their tireless work on this issue. When we create a
smoke-free England—the consensus here today is for a smoke-free
Britain—it will be in no small part thanks to their tremendous
efforts and campaigning.
I also pay tribute to my hon. Friends the Members for Birmingham,
Erdington (Mrs Hamilton) and for Blaydon (), and the hon. Members for
Southport (), for Strangford () and for Arfon (), as well as the hon. Member
for Linlithgow and East Falkirk (), who leads for the Scottish
National party on health issues. There is consensus across the
Chamber on where we need to go.
In 2019, the Government committed themselves to a Smokefree 2030.
As Members across the House will be aware, that means a smoking
prevalence of around 5% of the population. The commitment was
welcomed across the House, and for good reason: despite
significant progress in driving down smoking rates over the past
40 years, smoking, as we have heard today, is still the biggest
cause of cancer and death in the United Kingdom. Smoking causes
around 150 cancer cases every day, and smoking tobacco kills one
person every five minutes.
Those deaths are made all the more tragic by the fact that they
are avoidable. By creating a smoke-free England, we would empower
people to live happier, longer and healthier lives, and
substantially reduce pressure on our NHS, as Cancer Research UK
estimates that up to 75,000 GP appointments could be freed up
each year if we put an end to smoking. That would all come
alongside substantial economic benefits, as smoking costs the
public finances an estimated £20.6 billion. The argument for a
smoke-free future is overwhelming. We just need to get there.
In a recent response to a written question I tabled, the Minister
stated that his Department is “confident” that it is
“on course to achieve…Smokefree 2030,”
but Cancer Research UK estimates that the Government are, as we
heard from the hon. Member for Harrow East, on track to miss
their Smokefree 2030 target by around nine years. Smoking
cessation services have faced cuts of 45% since 2015-16, and in
some of the most deprived areas of England, smoking rates are
increasing, not decreasing.
That increase is incredibly concerning, and it risks exacerbating
health inequalities that are already widening, in some cases at
an alarming rate. Therefore, I would be grateful if the Minister
explained why his Department is so confident that the 2030 target
will be met, and where the Government’s modelling is, as well as
why it differs from that of Cancer Research UK.
The announcements the Minister made in April were undoubtedly
welcome, but they do not seem to me to be ambitious enough or
wide-ranging enough to get us back on track. If that is the case,
and if we are to miss the 2030 target, the Department of Health
and Social Care needs to fess up and say how it plans to keep its
pledge. The truth is that the foot has been taken off the pedal
with regard to Smokefree 2030. The Government wasted precious
time, and unless they act swiftly the target will be beyond
reach. I do not want that. I want the Minister to succeed in
achieving the target, and I do not think anybody in the Chamber
wants us to miss it.
We need action, so I will press the Minister on a few key points.
First, will he confirm whether the Government plan to announce
any further measures to tackle smoking prevalence, or whether the
April announcement is intended to replace the tobacco control
plan and the health disparities White Paper?
Secondly, the April announcement referred to an updated strategy
to tackle illicit sales and imports of tobacco due to be released
at some point this year. There is a backlog of reports to be
published sometime this year. We would like this one to be at the
front of the queue, not the back. Will the Minister update
Members on where the work has got to and when we can expect
publication of the strategy?
Thirdly, the Minister will no doubt be aware that Cancer Research
UK and ASH have made several recommendations to the Government,
most notably on an increase in the age of sale and a “polluter
pays” tobacco levy. I would be interested to hear what recent
assessment he has made of those proposals and whether they will
inform his Department’s work moving forward.
Finally, cross-Government guidance on protecting public policy
from the vested interests of the tobacco industry was published
yesterday. That is a step in the right direction, but will the
Minister set out how the guidance will be disseminated to all
branches of Government, given that it is cross-departmental?
The last Labour Government had a proud history of taking bold
action to drive down smoking prevalence. We implemented the
indoor smoking ban and took action to tackle cigarette
advertising, and we are still feeling the benefits of those
policies to this day. We want to continue that legacy and,
indeed, the measures that were brought in more recently. That is
why creating a smoke-free England within a smoke-free United
Kingdom will be an absolute priority for the next Labour
Government.
Our recent health mission launch set out the first steps of our
road map to a smoke-free Britain. They include making all
hospital trusts integrate opt-out smoking cessation interventions
into routine care and expecting every trust to have a named lead
on smoking cessation, so that every single clinical consultation
counts towards health improvement. We would legislate to require
all tobacco companies to dispel the myth that smoking reduces
stress and anxiety. We would also ban vapes from being advertised
to children and instead work with councils and the NHS to ensure
that vapes are being used to stop smoking—full stop.
That is just the start of our road map to a smoke-free United
Kingdom. The next Labour Government wholeheartedly believe in a
smoke-free future, and we will not shy away from taking the bold
steps that are needed to protect and improve public health. Until
then, we are ready to work constructively and across party lines
to build a smoke-free England within a smoke-free United Kingdom.
I look forward to hearing how the Government plan to get us back
on track.
10.47am
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social
Care (Neil O’Brien)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Sharma. I
thank my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow East () and the hon. Member for City of Durham () for securing this hugely
important debate, and I thank other hon. Members for some
excellent speeches. I was haunted by the image, conjured up by
the hon. Member for Birmingham, Erdington (Mrs Hamilton), of
people with COPD being wheeled outside to have one more gasp—I
think we have all seen things like that. It has also been a
pleasure to have contributions from all four parts of the UK. I
shall try to respond to as many of the questions as possible.
In 2019, the Government produced a Green Paper on preventive
health, in which we introduced our ambition for England to become
smoke free by 2030. The ambition aims to shift the focus from
treating ill health to preventing it in the first place. That
means three things: first, discouraging children and adults from
starting; secondly, helping smokers to quit; and thirdly, moving
smokers to less harmful alternatives, such as vapes.
That is exactly what we have been doing over the last decade, and
we have made significant progress. In recent years, the
Government have introduced a range of legislation. We have
introduced a UK-wide system of track and trace for cigarettes and
hand-rolling tobacco to deter illicit sales, and from May 2024
that will cover all tobacco products, including shisha and
cigars. We have continued to invest in stop smoking services, to
help smokers get the right support for them. We continue to
support the NHS, and last year alone provided £35 million to the
NHS long-term plan commitments on smoking. Of course, we have
also doubled duty on cigarettes and introduced a minimum excise
tax on the cheapest cigarettes. Between them, those measures have
helped to ensure that adult smoking prevalence in England is at
its lowest level on record, 13%, and that youth smoking rates are
the lowest on record—in 2021, 3.3% of 15-year-olds were regular
smokers.
If we are to achieve our 5% ambition by 2030, however, we must
move faster and be bolder. That is why on 11 April I introduced a
package of new measures to help make more progress. To help
smokers quit and move towards less harmful alternatives, we
announced funding for a new national “swap to stop” scheme, which
is the first of its kind in the world at a national level, to
encourage 1 million smokers to swap cigarettes for vapes. We have
begun to set up pathfinders, where local authorities can apply
for starter kits, and the first shipments of vapes should begin
going out later this summer. Local authorities across the country
have expressed an interest, and we are also working with social
landlords, homelessness charities, jobcentres, food banks and all
the other groups that can help smokers to quit.
Despite its effectiveness as a tool to quit smoking, we must be
aware of the risks that vaping poses to children and non-smokers,
as various Members have pointed out. Over the past couple of
years, we have seen an alarming rise in children vaping, and that
is why we are taking action. We recently held a call for evidence
to look at all the opportunities to reduce the number of children
using vape products. It closed on 6 June and we are analysing the
responses. We will publish our response within 12 weeks.
To stop children buying vapes, we need to get businesses to
comply with our regulations and abide by the standards we have
set. Of course, there are retailers out there selling vapes to
children. That is why we recently created a new enforcement unit,
which has three priorities: to tackle products imported and
traded illicitly, to remove illegal products from the market that
do not comply with our regulations, and to stop under-age sales
to children. The unit will help remove illegal products from
shelves, stop them coming through our borders and stop the sale
of vapes to children.
Dr Hudson
I thank the Minister for articulating some of the risks around
disposable vapes. I want to raise the risks they pose to animals.
Just the other day, I was out walking my young dog Poppy and she
came out of the undergrowth with a bright pink, melon-flavoured
disposable vape in her mouth. I was able to get it out of her
mouth, but, as a vet, I shudder to think what would have happened
if she had chewed, crunched or swallowed it. Does my hon. Friend
agree that we need more public awareness of the risks of vapes to
health, the environment and even animals?
Neil O’Brien
That is a fascinating point, and my hon. Friend is absolutely
right that we need to be aware of the environmental and wider
impacts of disposable vapes as we consider our next steps.
At the end of May, the Prime Minister announced several further
measures to address youth vaping, including closing the loophole
that allowed industry to give out free samples, increasing
education and supporting dedicated school police liaison officers
to keep illegal vapes out of schools. The measures support our
wider approach to tackling youth vaping—not only preventing
supply, but reducing demand. We also need to take action against
businesses that break the rules and protect businesses that abide
by them.
As well as non-compliant vapes, the illicit trade in tobacco
undermines our work to protect public health. To answer the
question from the hon. Member for Arfon (), His Majesty’s Revenue and
Customs will produce a new strategy to tackle illicit tobacco
later this year. The strategy will outline joint efforts to catch
and punish those involved in the illegal market and will build on
the work we are already doing—my hon. Friend the Member for
Harrow East alluded to it—to use the registration system as a way
to improve enforcement.
Another big priority is to help pregnant women quit smoking. The
rate of smoking in pregnancy remains stubbornly high; increasing
the number of women who have a smoke-free pregnancy is crucial.
To help expectant mothers, we have set up a financial incentive
scheme, married with behavioural support. We aim to ensure that
every pregnant mother who smokes across England gets help to
quit. That work is based on a successful scheme in Greater
Manchester, which has seen one of the biggest drops in smoking in
pregnancy anywhere in the country.
To help more smokers quit, we need to be more innovative in how
we connect with them, with the right type of support and
messaging at the right time. To address the question asked by the
hon. Member for Blaydon (), we are going further on mental
health and are ensuring that everyone who is in mental health
treatment is signposted to stop smoking services, because there
is a link between the two.
Another potential opportunity that hon. Members have raised is
our plan to provide pack inserts in smoked tobacco packets, with
positive messages and information to help more smokers quit. We
intend to launch a UK-wide consultation shortly and are engaging
with devolved Administrations on the matter. To answer the
question raised by the hon. Member for Strangford (), we are absolutely having those conversations.
We are committed to doing all we can to prevent people from
starting smoking, to give smokers the support they need to quit,
and to tackle the damage from the illicit market. I talked about
some of the measures that I recently announced, but we will have
more to say in the major conditions strategy in the
not-too-distant future. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for
Harrow East and the hon. Member for City of Durham for securing
this hugely important debate, and I look forward to making
further progress towards our ambition for a smoke-free England
and a smoke-free UK by 2030.
10.54am
I thank the Minister for his reply to the debate; the co-sponsor
of the debate, the hon. Member for City of Durham (), for her contribution; the
Labour Front-Bench spokesman, the hon. Member for Denton and
Reddish (), for his support from across
the Chamber; and our SNP colleague, the hon. Member for
Linlithgow and East Falkirk (), for his contribution. That we
have had contributions from Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland and
England demonstrates the strong cross-party and cross-country
support for making the United Kingdom smoke free. It is
reassuring to hear people support the campaign with such
enthusiasm.
I urge the Minister to consider carefully the questions and
points that were put during the debate as we look forward to the
action that is required to prevent people from starting to smoke
and to encourage those who do smoke to quit. At the end of the
day, this is about preventing avoidable deaths, and without that
action, we will, unfortunately, see far too many people become
ill and die prematurely.
While I have the floor, I will remind colleagues that on 19 July
the all-party group will be hosting a reception to mark the
fourth anniversary of the Government’s Smokefree 2030 ambition.
We hope to hear from both the Minister and the Opposition
spokesman, and I invite other colleagues to contribute to the
session. I hope that we will be able to celebrate some new
announcements from the Government, and that we will move forward
to a smoke-free England in 2030 jointly and severally.
Finally, I thank you, Mr Sharma, and Mr Evans earlier, for
stepping into the Chair. When we were all sitting here before the
start, we were wondering whether the debate would take place at
all, and had you not stepped in, it would have been very
difficult to continue. I commend the motion to the House.
Question put and agreed to.
Resolved,
That this House has considered the Smokefree 2030 target.
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