Hertfordshire County Council welcomes Government ban on disposable vapes

Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) has welcomed the Government’s decision to ban disposable vapes in a bid to protect children.

The measure was announced by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on a visit to a school on Monday (January 29).

He said: “As any parent or teacher knows, one of the most worrying trends at the moment is the rise in vaping among children, and so we must act before it becomes endemic.

“The long-term impacts of vaping are unknown and the nicotine within them can be highly addictive, so while vaping can be a useful tool to help smokers quit, marketing vapes to children is not acceptable.”

Cllr Morris Bright, HCC’s executive member for public health and community safety, responded: “We welcome the announcement from the Department for Health and Social Care that a ban on disposable vapes will be introduced.

“We have long called for changes to the gaudy and colourful packaging that encourages children to try something that could cause health implications in the future and have been writing to the Health Secretary to highlight our concerns around the issue.

“Children who try them often then move onto nicotine-based products when they turn 18 and that’s why we are seeing an increase in the number of young people vaping across the county.

“Our Trading Standards team has also seen an increase in illicit disposable vapes, which could contain harmful chemicals. We will continue to work to protect our residents, particularly children, from the risk posed by non-compliant vapes.

“We are still committed to our stop smoking service and understand that vaping can be an important part of someone’s journey towards quitting cigarettes.”

Figures show the number of children using vapes in the past three years has tripled. Use among younger children is also rising, with 9% of 11- to 15-year-olds now using them.

The Government said disposable vapes were a key driver in an alarming rise in youth vaping, with the proportion of 11- to 17-year-old vapers using disposables increasing almost ninefold in the last two years.

As part of the clampdown, new powers will be introduced to restrict flavours which are specifically marketed to children and ensure that manufacturers produce plainer, less visually appealing packaging.

The powers will also allow the Government to change how vapes are displayed in shops, moving them out of sight of children and away from products that appeal to them, like sweets.

To crack down on underage sales, the Government will also bring in new fines for shops in England and Wales which sell vapes illegally to children.

At the same time, vaping alternatives – such as nicotine pouches – will also be outlawed for children.

The Government has again reiterated its commitment to introduce legislation so children turning 15 this year or younger can never legally be sold tobacco.

Smoking is the UK’s single biggest preventable killer, causing around one in four cancer deaths and leading to 80,000 a year.

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary Steve Barclay said: “Not only are disposable vapes often targeted, unacceptably, at children, they also represent a huge and growing stream of hard-to-recycle waste, with nearly five million thrown away every week.”