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Parliament 4

Multiple questions from Richard Holden, the Opposition Whip, draws a very lengthy answer from Andrew Gwynne, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care

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Richard Holden, the Opposition Whip, asked multiple questions about “big puff vapes”. His concerns drew a very lengthy answer from Andrew Gwynne, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care, who explained how the Tobacco and Vapes Bill will address a situation already covered by existing legislation.

Shadow Paymaster General Richard Holden asked the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care what assessment has been made of the potential impact of provisions within the Tobacco and Vapes Bill on trends in the level of usage of very high puff-count vapes among young people.

Holden also wanted to know what assessment has been made of the potential implications for the policies of the Material Focus study entitled ‘Big puff vapes are surging onto the market adding to the vape environmental crisis’, the focus of our other feature article today, and if there are plans to take steps to tackle the popularity of high puff-count vapes amongst 16- to 34-year-olds.

Finally, he wanted to know what the impact of high-puff count vapes are on trends in the level of youth vaping.

Andrew Gwynne, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care, replied: “Selling nicotine vapes to children under 18 years old is illegal. Yet due to the branding and advertising of vapes to children, one-in-four children aged between 11 and 15 years old tried vaping in 2023. The health advice is clear, that vaping is never recommended for children or non-smokers.

Single-use vapes are playing a significant role in the rise of youth vaping; in 2024, 54% of current vapers aged between 11 and 17 years old in Great Britain were using them, increasing from 7.7% in 2021. The Department of Health and Social Care is aware of the issues regarding ‘big-puff’ vapes, including those raised in the study referenced.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has laid legislation to ban the sale of single-use disposable vapes in England from 1 June 2025. Most ‘big puff’ vapes currently on the market are neither refillable or rechargeable, which means that they will be captured by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ forthcoming ban.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will ban the advertising and sponsorship of all vapes and nicotine products. It will also provide regulation making powers to limit the flavours and packaging of vapes and nicotine products, as well as how these products are displayed.

“The Bill also provides powers that allow the Government to regulate the size of a tank or refill container, and the amount of liquid that can be included, as well as powers to standardise the size and shape of vapes, and to further restrict liquid availability. In addition, the Bill contains powers that allow us to regulate the amount of nicotine in a puff, so the Government is able to restrict the nicotine not only in the tank, but also the nicotine that can be emitted in the vapour.

“Future vaping regulations will be accompanied by impact assessments when the secondary legislation is laid.”

The threat of further regulations to restrict the vape market will strike fear into the hearts of harm reduction advocates.

Dave Cross avatar

Dave Cross

Journalist at POTV
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Dave 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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