The Department works closely with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, Trading Standards, and other regulatory enforcement agencies to ensure that products sold in the United Kingdom comply with regulations for all e-cigarette products, and that non-compliant products are removed from the market.<\/p>
In April 2023, the Government announced £3 million investment over two years to enhance work on illicit vape enforcement. Led by National Trading Standards, this builds on existing work by local trading standards officers across the country. Through this work, they identified that 2.1 million illicit vapes were seized across England by Trading Standards between 2022 to 2023.<\/p>
To strengthen our enforcement activity, the Government will also provide an additional £30 million of funding per year for enforcement agencies, including Trading Standards. This increase in investment will help to stamp out criminal activity by boosting the enforcement of illicit tobacco and vapes.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4117", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Andrea Leadsom"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "South Northamptonshire"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Andrea Leadsom"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2024-03-27", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2024-03-27T16:32:13.207Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "17"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Health and Social Care"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Health and Social Care"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2024-03-21", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Electronic Cigarettes: Sales"} , "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 estimate she has made of the number of non-compliant vapes sold on the UK market.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1586", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Adam Afriyie"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Windsor"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Adam Afriyie"} ], "uin" : "19830"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1697802", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department of Health and Social Care"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1697802/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Data on the number of illicit vapes seized through Operation Joseph in the financial year 2023 to 2024 will be published shortly.<\/p>
Operation Joseph has identified that in the year before the Operation, 2.1 million illicit vapes were seized across England by Trading Standards from 2022 to 2023.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4117", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Andrea Leadsom"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "South Northamptonshire"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Andrea Leadsom"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2024-04-09", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2024-04-09T12:33:05.82Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "17"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Health and Social Care"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Health and Social Care"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2024-03-21", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Electronic Cigarettes: Sales"} , "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, how many non-compliant disposable vaping products have been seized through Operation Joseph.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1586", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Adam Afriyie"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Windsor"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Adam Afriyie"} ], "uin" : "19832"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1697803", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department of Health and Social Care"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1697803/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Operation Joseph was established to enforce the rules on vaping, and tackle illicit vapes and underage sales. It supplements work being undertaken by local authorities using existing local government funding. The £3 million of funding has been allocated over two years, from 2023/24 to 2024/25. A grant was provided to the National Trading Standards to commission specific areas of work, and to support local authorities. The following table shows the budget of each work area as of February 2024, as well as the total allocated:<\/p>
<\/p>
Work Area<\/p><\/td> | Budget<\/p><\/td><\/tr> |
Business Education<\/p><\/td> | £88,800<\/p><\/td><\/tr> |
Professional Training and Upskilling<\/p><\/td> | £164,400<\/p><\/td><\/tr> |
Intelligence and Data<\/p><\/td> | £500,000<\/p><\/td><\/tr> |
Supporting storage and disposal costs for local authority seizures<\/p><\/td> | £600,000<\/p><\/td><\/tr> |
Online test purchasing and website takedowns<\/p><\/td> | £80,000<\/p><\/td><\/tr> |
Market Surveillance and testing of vaping products<\/p><\/td> | £140,000<\/p><\/td><\/tr> |
Tackling the import of illegal vapes<\/p><\/td> | £1,087,000<\/p><\/td><\/tr> |
Programme Governance Communications and Evaluation<\/p><\/td> | £281,000<\/p><\/td><\/tr> |
Contingency<\/p><\/td> | £58,800<\/p><\/td><\/tr> |
Total Allocated<\/p><\/td> | £3,000,000<\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table> Note: The figures shown are based on allocations in February 2024, and may be subject to change.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4117", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Andrea Leadsom"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "South Northamptonshire"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Andrea Leadsom"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2024-04-09", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2024-04-09T12:30:31.383Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "17"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Health and Social Care"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Health and Social Care"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2024-03-21", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Electronic Cigarettes: Sales"} , "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 she will publish a breakdown of the allocation of £3million government funding for Operation Joseph.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1586", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Adam Afriyie"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Windsor"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Adam Afriyie"} ], "uin" : "19833"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1697891", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department of Health and Social Care"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1697891/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " The Government is concerned about the worrying rise in vaping among children, with youth vaping tripling in the last three years, and one-in-five children having now used a vape. Underage sales and illicit vapes are undermining the work the Government is doing to protect our children's health.<\/p> To address this, in April 2023, the Government announced a £3 million investment over two years to enhance work on illicit vape enforcement. Led by National Trading Standards, this builds on existing work by local trading standards officers across the country to ensure that vapes sold in the United Kingdom comply with The Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016, as well as other relevant legislation that applies to vaping products. Activities include data collection and analysis to understand the scale of illegal products and sales, and market surveillance work. Through this work, they identified that 2.1 million illicit vapes were seized across England by trading standards from 2022 to 2023.<\/p> To strengthen our enforcement activity, the Government will also provide an additional £30 million of funding per year for enforcement agencies, including trading standards. This increase in investment will help to stamp out criminal activity by boosting the enforcement of illicit tobacco and vapes.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4117", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Andrea Leadsom"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "South Northamptonshire"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Andrea Leadsom"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2024-03-26", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "previousAnswerVersion" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1697891/answer/previousversion/26257", "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4117", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Andrea Leadsom"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "South Northamptonshire"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Andrea Leadsom"} } , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2024-03-26T20:33:17.217Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "17"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Health and Social Care"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Health and Social Care"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2024-03-21", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Electronic Cigarettes: Sales"} , "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 steps she is taking to tackle the sale of illegal vapes on the black market.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4603", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Preet Kaur Gill"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Birmingham, Edgbaston"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Preet Kaur Gill"} ], "uin" : "19918"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 4, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} } |