The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is back! What’s next?

After not making it over the legislative line to become law under the last Government, the Tobacco and Vapes Bill has finally been returned to Parliament. This is fantastic news for health campaigners, who see the Bill as the single biggest public health measure of a generation. With its passing, the Bill will save tens of thousands of lives and prevent those who are born in or after 2009 from being trapped in a lifetime of tobacco addiction, early disability and premature death.

It is a wide-ranging Bill which, in addition to phasing out the sale of tobacco, will create a strong set of common powers to regulate all tobacco, tobacco accessories and non-medicinal nicotine products. There are also extensions to smokefree legislation to enable public outdoor places to be designated smokefree and any smokefree places to be designated vape-free and heated-tobacco-free. Some of the legislation is UK-wide, and some provides powers on behalf of the devolved nations, who will define their own regulations following the passage of the Bill.

What does the legislative process involve?

So, what’s next? The Bill now needs to go through the legislative process in Parliament, which can be tricky to navigate for those who aren’t familiar.

First reading is a very anticlimactic event, with the Bill’s title simply being read in the Chamber. The first debate on the Bill comes with second reading where MPs will express their views and any concerns, and the Health Secretary will defend the Bill and outline what the Government is hoping to achieve with its passing.

The Bill will then head to Committee stage, where a group of MPs will diligently go through all 190 pages, line-by-line, and consider amendments (proposed changes). Many of the suggested amendments from the previous Committee stage have already been incorporated into the Bill, such as creating a licensing scheme for selling tobacco and vape products and powers on extending smokefree places. This has made the Bill much stronger that the previous version, particularly when it comes to curbing youth vaping.

Once the Committee reports back to Parliament, the Bill proceeds to the report and third reading before repeating the same process in the House of Lords. The Bill will ‘ping pong’ from the House of Lords to the Commons until both Houses are entirely happy with the wording and it is voted on and receives royal assent (becomes law). With the Government enjoying a large majority, the Bill should pass comfortably.

Standing up to lobbying efforts

We know that the tobacco industry will be lobbying hard throughout this process, encouraging MPs and Peers to table amendments to weaken the Bill or delay its measures. ASH will be working equally hard (though not with quite the same level of resources!) to flag these to MPs and make sure that the Bill puts public health and support for smokers to quit ahead of commercial interests.

Will the Bill keep cross-party support?

There is, however, a question about whether the legislation will continue to enjoy the cross-party support it had in the previous Parliament. An event that the APPG for Smoking and Health hosted in October saw spokespeople from the three main political parties all expressing their support for the Bill.

The appointments of Ed Argar as Shadow Health Secretary and Dr Caroline Johnson as Shadow Public Health Minister signal that key Conservative MPs who championed this landmark piece of legislation will still be driving the policy agenda, and it is hoped the Conservative MPs will have the same ‘free vote’ they did for the last bill.

The Conservative Party has a strong track record of action on tobacco control and, although the new party leader Kemi Badenoch is not a huge fan of bans, we hope that the exceptional harms of tobacco will continue to make the case for an exceptional policy response. This Bill stands to benefit the public’s health and wealth; something that all parties can get behind.

Helen Duffy, Public Affairs Lead at ASH

• To find out how you can help support the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, visit our dedicated webpage.