On June 28, 2023, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) gave evidence to the Health and Social Care Committee’s topical session on vaping. ASH is urging the committee to call the government to account for ignoring three years of calls for tougher regulation of e-cigarettes.

The charity set out its top three recommendations for the committee:

  1. Put a £5 excise tax on disposable vapes. The tax will make them less affordable for children and give more powers to Border Force and HMRC to prevent illegal vapes from flooding into the UK.
  2. Prohibit branding with an appeal to children: no more bright colours, sweet names and cartoon characters.
  3. Prohibit the promotion of e-cigarettes in shops: putting vapes out of sight and out of reach of children.

Deborah Arnott, chief executive, ASH said, “ASH warned the government three years ago about the legislative loophole allowing free vapes to be handed out to children. No action was taken. After our surveys showed the number of children vaping growing year-on-year, we called again and again for tougher regulation. Still no response. Inaction was understandable during Brexit, then covid and the ministerial merry-go-round last year, but not any longer. Recent government announcements that they will be ‘reviewing the rules’ is not good enough, tougher regulation is needed now, it mustn’t be kicked into the long grass yet again.”

Trading Standards Officers support the call by ASH for tougher regulation and enhanced enforcement powers for e-cigarettes.

Kate Pike, regional co-ordinator of Trading Standards North West and lead officer for vaping for the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, said, “At the moment, most of the responsibility for enforcing the laws on e-cigarettes rests with trading standards. After funding cuts to local government, we have fewer than half the staff we had in 2009, so we just don’t have the resources to deal with the recent explosion in illegal vapes. Putting excise taxes on disposable vapes would give Border Force and HMRC more powers to prevent illegal imports and distribution and sale inland. These are powers they already have for tobacco, allowing them to seize over a billion illegal cigarettes last year. We need their help with vapes, too, we can’t do it on our own.”

ASH is urging the government to implement a comprehensive set of recommendations designed to reduce the affordability, accessibility, appeal and advertising of vaping to children, but tougher regulation of tobacco is also essential to drive down youth vaping. A survey of 35 European countries found that the tougher tobacco regulations are, the lower the youth vaping rates. Therefore, ASH is also calling on the government not to forget its overarching ambition to deliver a Smokefree 2030, which is strongly supported by the public, parliamentarians and healthcare professionals.

Dr Ruth Sharrock, clinical lead for Tobacco Dependency, North East and North Cumbria NHS Integrated Care Board, said, “Tougher regulation is needed to stop children vaping, but just as important for our children’s health is tougher regulation of tobacco to deliver the Smokefree 2030 ambition and make smoking history. Exposure to second-hand smoke is responsible for around 5,000 children being admitted to hospital every year, more than 100 times as many as are admitted for vaping-related disorders.”

Ruth added, “Children growing up in the homes of smokers are much more likely to smoke themselves, bringing with it the risk of a lifelong addiction which kills at least one in two smokers prematurely. We need to use the ever-growing, significant evidence base to ensure those most vulnerable children have every opportunity for a smoke-free home and future.”

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