Peter Gibson Worries About Crime
Peter Gibson, the Conservative MP for Darlington, has posed a series of questions about vaping and criminal activity
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by Dave Cross
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Peter Gibson MP asked the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care what steps are being taken in conjunction with Cabinet colleagues to tackle the criminal, health and licensing issues arising from the sale of illegal vapes. He also asked the Secretary of State whether the Department is taking steps to use licensing and planning powers to reduce the number of mini markets trading in illegal vapes.
Andrea Leadsom, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care, answered on behalf of the Secretary of State. She said: “The Government is concerned about the increase in the number of illicit vapes in the United Kingdom’s market, as well as the access and availability of these vapes to children. In April of last year, we provided £3 million of funding for a new enforcement unit to tackle the illegal and underage sale of vapes, which has conducted targeted inspections in retail outlets and ports, upskilled trading standards officers, and piloted online underage test programmes.
“Whilst there are no current plans to introduce a licensing scheme, we have also recently announced a further £30 million of additional funding per year to tackle illicit and underage sales of tobacco and vape products. This additional funding in England will boost agencies such as local trading standards, to enforce the new age of sale and vaping restrictions.
“Alongside this package of funding, we are also taking assertive action to reduce youth vaping more generally. We recently published our response to the smoking and vaping consultation, which sets out plans to reduce the appeal and availability of vapes to children, through introducing restrictions on flavours, packaging, and point of sale display.
“We have also announced that we will ban the sale and supply of disposable vapes, and have set out plans to introduce a £100 fixed penalty notice for underage sales of tobacco and vaping products. The Government will introduce legislation as soon as possible.”
Leadsom is still refusing to admit that the measures she is sponsoring will only result in growing the black market and drive higher smoking rates.
Peter Gibson then asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether there are any plans to update the County Lines Programme to include illegal vapes.
Chris Philp, Minister of State for the Home Department told him: “This Government is determined to crack down on county lines gangs which is why we are investing up to £145m over three years in our County Lines Programme to tackle the most violent and exploitative distribution model yet seen. ‘County lines’ drug dealing is a form of drug distribution which exploits children and vulnerable young people, coercing them into being ‘runners’ and transporting illegal substances and money locally as well as around the country. The vast majority of county lines are focused on Class A drug supply, but we are clear that through our Programme, police and programme partners are supported to take action against county lines drug supply in whatever form it may take, including illegal vapes.
“Through the County Lines Programme, we are also funding the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre (NCLCC), to monitor the intelligence picture, map the national threat of county lines and prioritise action against the county lines groups causing the most harm nationwide. The NCLCC has been vital in strengthening the law enforcement response and enabling police forces to work together to tackle this complex issue. We will continue working with NCLCC to further understand the illicit substances being distributed through the county lines model.
“Since the Programme was launched in 2019, police activity has resulted in over 5,100 line closures, 15,600 arrests and 8,000 safeguarding referrals. This includes over 2,100 line closures by the Programme taskforces since April 2022, meeting the HMG Drugs Strategy commitment of closing over 2,000 by April 2025 in half the time.”
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
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