Data from NHS Digital showed that 9% of 11- to 15-year-olds identified themselves as current users of vapes in 2021. The Government is clear that vaping should only be used to help adults quit smoking. Vapes should not be used by people under the age of 18 years old or non-smokers.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4679", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Neil O'Brien"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Harborough"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Neil O'Brien"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2023-03-21", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2023-03-21T17:59:14.867Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "17"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Health and Social Care"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Health and Social Care"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2023-03-16", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Electronic Cigarettes: Children"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the number of children who use e-cigarettes.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4498", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr Ranil Jayawardena"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "North East Hampshire"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr Ranil Jayawardena"} ], "uin" : "167185"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1177858", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department of Health and Social Care"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1177858/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
E-cigarettes in the United Kingdom are tightly regulated by the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 (TRPR) and the Nicotine Inhaling Products (Age of Sale and Proxy Purchasing) Regulations 2015 (NIP). These regulations include preventing sale to under 18s, restrictions on mainstream TV and radio advertising, and limit both tank sizes and nicotine content.<\/p>
<\/p>
Local trading standards have powers for enforcement of both regulations. The Government has also funded the Chartered Trading Standards Institute to undertake a review of compliance of nicotine vaping products. The latest report, \u2018The Tobacco Control Survey for England 2018/19: A Report of Trading Standards Service Activity\u2019 reports that 34 councils were able to report the number of visits with volunteer young people where sales had occurred. 90 test purchase attempts resulted in an underage sale being made. This results in a 40% test-purchase-to-sale rate.<\/p>
<\/p>
We are monitoring youth use closely and will take action, if necessary, to ensure that regular use among children and young people does not increase, and that e-cigarettes do not become a gateway to tobacco use. We continue to keep the evidence base on e-cigarettes under review and the next Public Health England annual review is due to be published next month.<\/p>
<\/p>
<\/p>
<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4380", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Jo Churchill"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Bury St Edmunds"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Jo Churchill"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2020-02-19", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2020-02-19T12:09:47.267Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "17"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Health and Social Care"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Health and Social Care"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2020-02-11", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Electronic Cigarettes: Children"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of whether vaping shops are fulfilling their legal requirements to verify age and not sell to children.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4498", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr Ranil Jayawardena"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "North East Hampshire"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr Ranil Jayawardena"} ], "uin" : "765"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1079345", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department of Health and Social Care"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1079345/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Public Health England\u2019s (PHE) report \u2018Vaping in England: evidence update summary February 2019\u2019 found e-cigarette use among young people in Great Britain has increased only modestly in recent years.<\/p>
<\/p>
It found that, while experimentation with e-cigarettes among young people has increased in recent years, regular use remains low. Of the 2% of under 18s who used e-cigarettes weekly or more, the majority of those also smoked. Only 0.2% of young people who had never smoked used e-cigarettes regularly.<\/p>
<\/p>
The Government has put in place proportionate regulation of e-cigarettes to protect young people, including a minimum age of sale and tight restrictions on advertising. PHE continues to monitor the trends in vaping among young people alongside those in smoking, to ensure the Government is on track to achieve its ambition of a smoke-free generation. This can be viewed at the following link:<\/p>
<\/p>