A response from Sir Peter Bottomley MP:
About 30 years ago I took an interest in how many death certificates mentioned smoking, and the answer was four.
The figure may be larger now, but we should encourage medical practitioners to say that the person had been an active smoker, even if it was not the primary cause of death so that at least people can become more aware of the issue.
We cannot dismiss the fact that it is the single leading behavioural cause of preventable death across our country, responsible for around 64,000 deaths across England in 2019, reducing smoking is crucial for ensuring we live longer, healthier lives.
I have consistently made clear to the Government the need to learn the lessons from how we cut the drink-driving deaths whilst I was the responsible Minister in the 1980s. This was not achieved by public programmes, but by people doing the things that actually made a difference—that cut down the incidence and cut down the consequences and cut down the deaths. We changed the culture surrounding drink-driving and ensured that people understood and appreciated the dangers rather than simply prohibiting it.
Following the Government announcement in October 2023 of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, I was pleased to see that there is an additional provision of funding for stop smoking services worth £70 million per year (to a total of £138 million). These services aim to help around 360,000 people give up smoking each year.
The Government is also providing £5 million in funds for a new national campaign to promote the benefits of stopping smoking and signpost the support available to those that wish to.
Alongside these measures, the Government has committed to implementing its highly ambitious plan to create the first ‘smoke free generation, by preventing children born on or after 1st April 2009 from ever legally being sold cigarettes in England. If the bill passes, it will effectively raise by one year every year, the legal age that tobacco can be purchased.
This is the most significant public health intervention in a generation. It has the potential to phase out smoking in young people almost completely by as early as 2040.
Several of my constituents have been in contact regarding the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) proposals for the Conference of the Parties tenth meeting (COP10).
The Government has regularly set out its position on vaping at the Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Although the COP10 Conference has been postponed to 2024, when it does take place, please be assured that any decision concerning the regulation of vapes will be made by the UK government, not the WHO.
An estimated 2.4 million vapers are former smokers, and there is clear evidence that some of the highest success rates of those trying to stop smoking are among adults using a vaping device, with an additional 70,000 people stopping smoking every year as a result of using these devices. It is safer to vape rather than smoke but vapes are not risk free.
There has been some concern from constituents regarding the worrying rise in vaping among children. The Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) report found that 20.5% of British children had tried vaping in 2023. This represents a three-fold increase in the past three years.
Due to nicotine content and the unknown long-term harms, vaping carries risks to health and lifelong addiction for children. The health advice is clear: young people and people who have never smoked should not vape. I am therefore pleased that as part of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, the Government announced that it is considering regulations seeking to curb the appeal and availability of vapes to children.
Thank you once again for contacting me on these matters.
