Tobacco and Vapes Bill
With tobacco being the biggest preventable killer of people in Scotland causing nearly 9,000 premature deaths each year, and regular e-cigarette use by 15-year-olds having tripled and more than doubled for 13-year-olds during recent years, ASH Scotland welcomes the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which has a four-nations approach, as a landmark step towards creating a tobacco-free Scotland through reducing the use of tobacco and tackling youth vaping.
The Bill, which was introduced to the UK Parliament by the UK Government on 5 November 2024, has been voted on twice in the House of Commons and the next stage is scrutiny in the House of Lords. If the Lords make amendments, the Bill will return to the House of Commons for a final vote on those amendments. If the Bill is passed, it will be sent to the monarch for Royal Assent, after which it will become law.
The Bill is currently being scrutinised in the House of Lords
A range of proposals will come into force soon after the Bill achieves Royal Assent, or after subsequent UK-wide and Scotland-only public consultations. As the Bill covers some matters that are devolved to the Scottish Parliament, MSPs will be asked to support the Scottish Government’s Tobacco and Vapes Bill Legislative Consent Memorandum to allow Holyrood to consider and take forward those proposals.
Main proposals that are relevant to Scotland
The rising age of sale proposal to stop future generations from becoming addicted to tobacco will mean that, from 1 January 2027, it will be illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009. We support this measure, which will progressively clear retail spaces of tobacco; and remove the current age-of-sale legislation in Scotland which decriminalises under-age consumer purchases of tobacco.
ASH Scotland has long advocated for young people not to be criminalised for buying addictive, health harming tobacco products.
Within two months of the Bill receiving Royal Assent, there will be a UK-wide ban of advertising and sponsorship deals featuring e-cigarette and other recreational nicotine products. We welcome this proposal which will repeal and replace the Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act 2002 to introduce restrictions that complement the existing ban on tobacco advertising and sponsorship, and strengthen regulations by the Scottish Government, enabled by the Health (Tobacco, Nicotine etc. and Care) (Scotland) Act 2016, that have not yet been implemented to restrict free distribution, brand-sharing as well as advertising and promotions of vaping products on billboards, leaflets and bus shelters.
Powers are proposed to be devolved to the Scottish Government to consult, at some point after Royal Assent, to create vape-free and heated tobacco-free spaces and extend smoke-free spaces in Scotland. In 2024/25, ASH Scotland convened a Short Life Working Group on Smokefree Spaces, at the request of the Scottish Government, which is investigating the scope for increasing smoke-free spaces. We support the extension of SAFE spaces (smoke-free and aerosol-free environments) with a focus on areas frequently used by children such as in and around school premises and playgrounds.
The Bill also proposes to introduce powers to restrict the flavours, product designs, packaging and retail point of sale displays of e-cigarettes as well as other tobacco and nicotine products. The restrictions will be consulted on by the UK Government on a UK-wide basis at some point after Royal Assent. We advocate for recreational nicotine products to have no added flavours, and for the standardisation of device designs and packaging to reduce the attractiveness of products to children through the prevention of imagery, colours, descriptors and branding.
A power is also proposed to be devolved to the Scottish Government to enable its existing national Register of Tobacco and Nicotine Vapour Product Retailers to be extended to cover all tobacco, nicotine and herbal smoking products. We want the Register to be made ‘conditional’, with the government remaining as the registration authority. This change would support enforcement of regulations by increasing data collection, improve sanctions for repeated non-compliance by retailers, and could generate a revenue stream to support maintenance of the Register.
How to support the Bill
You can email your MP to express your support for the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.
Enter your postcode on the UK Parliament website and click on your MP’s name so that you can see the email address for their parliamentary office. Click on that email address to open up a new email and write ‘Please support the Tobacco and Vapes Bill’ as the subject.
If you need help in drafting your email, we have some text below that you can download and consider including. Please remember to add comms@ashscotland.org.uk to the Cc field before sending your email.
Our involvement in the Bill
Our CEO, Sheila Duffy welcomed the progress on the Tobacco And Vapes Bill at the oral evidence session for the UK Parliament's public bills committee on 7 January 2025.
Click the button below to watch the full evidence session that includes the 3 ASH organisations and Cancer Focus Northern Ireland.
Read the evidence we submitted to the House of Commons's Public Bill Committee.
Tobacco and Vapes Bill Legislative Consent Memorandum
ASH Scotland gave evidence to the Scottish Parliament’s Health, Social Care and Sport
Committee for the Tobacco and Vapes Bill Legislative Consent Memorandum. Read our support for the Draft Legislative Consent Memorandum and motion lodged by the Scottish Government below.
Previous UK Government's Tobacco and Vapes Bill
We have several e-learning courses and downloadable resources about tobacco and related products on our dedicated e-learning website.
The tobacco industry
Learn about the importance of WHO's FCTC Article 5.3 in preventing tobacco industry interference in the development of health policies.
Smoking harms
Tobacco is the biggest cause of cancer worldwide. Find out more about the harms of smoking.