Tobacco and Vapes Bill: creating a smoke-free UK and tackling youth vaping factsheet

It will usher in a smoke-free generation by gradually phasing out the sale of tobacco products across the country: the bill makes it a crime to sell tobacco products, herbal smoking products and cigarette papers to anyone born on or after January 1, 2009. Children born on or after January 1, 2009 will never be legally sold tobacco products, breaking the cycle of addiction and disadvantage.

The products include:

• cigarettes

• hand rolled tobacco

• cigars

• cigarillos

• pipe tobacco

• waterpipe tobacco products (for example, shisha)

• chewing tobacco

• heated tobacco

• nasal tobacco (snuff)

• herbal smoking products

• cigarette papers

Display, sale and advertising

The bill will ban the advertising and sponsorship of all vape products and other nicotine products (such as nicotine pouches), mirroring the current restrictions on tobacco.

The bill will close loopholes and ban all vape products and nicotine products (and non-nicotine vape products) from being sold to people under 18, as well as prohibiting the free distribution of these products and their sale from vending machines.

The bill will also give ministers powers to regulate the flavours, packaging and display of all vape products and other nicotine products, as well as powers to amend and update product standards.

Expanding existing legislation

The Bill will allow us to extend current indoor smoking restrictions to certain public outdoor spaces and workplaces. In England, the government is considering extending smoke-free outdoor spaces to schools, playgrounds and hospitals, but not to outdoor dining environments or large open spaces such as beaches. Private outdoor spaces are outside the powers of the Bill. Exactly which environments will become smoke-free will be determined by secondary legislation and will be subject to full consultation.

The bill also provides powers to make places vape-free and heated tobacco-free, insofar as they are smoke-free places. Vape usage is already prohibited in many places and, as with smoke-free places, proposals for any restrictions will be subject to full public consultation.

Enforcement and registration

The bill will strengthen enforcement activity to support the implementation of the above measures. It will provide powers to introduce a dedicated licensing scheme for the retail sale of tobacco products, herbal smoking products, cigarette papers, vapes and nicotine products in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The bill also strengthens Scotland’s existing retail register by expanding its scope to herbal smoking products and nicotine products.

It will also provide enforcement authorities in England and Wales with the power to issue fixed penalty notices (FPNs) of up to £200 for offences including the underage sale of tobacco and vaping products, and FPNs set at £2,500 for offences in connection with licensing.

The government is also including powers to introduce a new product registration scheme for tobacco, vapes and nicotine products. This scheme will set out requirements for producers and manufacturers before a product can be sold to consumers.

Rationale for intervention

Smoking is the number one preventable cause of death, disability and ill health in the UK. It claims around 80,000 lives a year, causes 1 in 4 of all cancer deaths and kills up to two-thirds of its long-term users. Smoking also substantially increases the risk of many major health conditions throughout people’s lives, such as strokes, diabetes, heart disease, stillbirth, dementia and asthma.

Smoking costs the economy and wider society £21.8 billion a year. This includes an annual £18.3 billion loss to productivity, through smoking related lost earnings, unemployment and early death, as well as costs to the NHS and social care of £3.1 billion. These are resources that could be freed up to deliver millions more appointments, scans and operations every year. Almost every minute someone is admitted to hospital because of smoking and up to 75,000 GP appointments can be attributed to smoking each month - over 100 every hour.

Second-hand smoking poses a risk to your health even outdoors. It is particularly dangerous for vulnerable people like children, pregnant women and those with pre-existing but usually invisible health conditions such as asthma and heart disease. In some public settings exposure can be high - if you can smell smoke you are inhaling it.

While nicotine vapes can play an important role in helping adult smokers to quit, selling nicotine vapes to under 18s is illegal. Due to nicotine content and the unknown long-term harms, vaping and nicotine products carry risk of harm and addiction. This is particularly acute for adolescents, whose brains are still developing.

The long-term harms of colours and flavours when inhaled are unknown, but they are highly unlikely to be beneficial. However, due to the branding and promotion of vapes to children, youth vaping has more than doubled in the last 5 years and 25% of children have tried vaping in 2023. Vapes are not the only potential issue - use of other nicotine products, such as nicotine pouches, is also increasing, particularly among young men.

Geographical scope

The legislation will apply across the UK and build on existing legislative frameworks in the four nations to create a coherent approach to regulating tobacco and vaping products. The UK Government has worked with the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Government to develop the bill. The scope of the measures varies across the UK due to the devolution agreement. Wales and Scotland have already gone further in terms of smoke-free places, banning smoking outside hospitals, with Wales also including school playgrounds and public play areas.

Timeline for implementation

Subject to approval from Parliament, the age of sale restrictions for tobacco will come into force on 1 January 2027, when those born on 1 January 2009 turn 18. The coming into force date for measures introduced via regulations will be set out in the secondary legislation.