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** 17 June 2025
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** UK
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** More young people aware of nicotine pouches amid calls for urgent regulation (#1)
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** International
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** Tobacco firms support age limits on nicotine pouches as vape retailer pushes back on regulation (#2)
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** Parliamentary activity
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** Written questions (#3)
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** UK
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** More young people aware of nicotine pouches amid calls for urgent regulation

A survey by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) has found that awareness of nicotine pouches among children aged 11 to 17 has grown in the past year, and that almost 4% of young people in this age group have tried the product. ASH urges the government to accelerate the passage of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which will prohibit sales of nicotine pouches to minors and restrict marketing.

ASH Chief Executive Hazel Cheeseman raised concerns about delays to the legislation and said the growing use among teens and young adults suggests current marketing tactics — including in-store promotion and social media campaigns featuring influencers — are effectively targeting younger demographics.

Teachers also raise concerns about increasing use among pupils and say many parents remain unaware of the issue.

Source: BBC News, 17 June 2025

See also: ASH press release - ASH calls for swift legislation on nicotine pouches as new data shows surge in youth awareness ([link removed]) | The Independent - More and more children aware of nicotine pouches, charity warns ([link removed])

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** International
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** Tobacco firms support age limits on nicotine pouches as vape retailer pushes back on regulation

Major tobacco companies have urged the Irish government to introduce age restrictions and tighter controls on nicotine pouches, warning of risks associated with high-strength products and youth appeal. Japan Tobacco International (JTI) and British American Tobacco both called for rules to limit nicotine content, regulate packaging, and prevent sales to under-18s.

JTI highlighted the sharp rise in youth uptake of disposable vaping devices, and attributes this to flavours and marketing that appeal to younger consumers. The company said lessons should be learned to prevent similar issues with nicotine pouches.

Meanwhile one of Ireland’s largest vape retailers, Hale Vaping, criticises proposed vaping regulations as excessive and counterproductive.

Source: The Irish Times, 16 June 2025
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** Parliamentary activity
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** Written questions

Asked by Sir John Hayes, Conservative, South Holland and The Deepings
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to fund improved provisions for addiction support services in (a) South Holland and The Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.

Answered by Ashley Dalton, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care), Labour, West Lancashire
The Government is committed to ensuring that anyone with a drug or alcohol problem can access the help and support they need, and we recognise the need for evidence-based, high-quality treatment.

Local authorities are responsible for assessing the local need for alcohol and drug prevention and treatment in their area, and for commissioning services to meet those needs. In addition to the Public Health Grant, in 2025/26, the Department is providing Lincolnshire with £3,382,494 from the Drug and Alcohol Treatment and Recovery Improvement Grant and £217,783 from the Individual Placement and Support grant to improve drug and alcohol services and recovery support, which includes housing and employment. All funding is provided at the Lincolnshire level, and it is for Lincolnshire County Council to determine how to meet need in South Holland and The Deepings.

Alongside the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, we are increasing our efforts to support smokers to quit and have invested an additional £70 million in 2024/25 and 2025/26 for all local authority commissioned stop smoking services in England. In each financial year, Lincolnshire has been allocated £1.1 million to invest in local stop smoking services, in addition to existing spend on these services from the Public Health Grant. The purpose of this investment is to boost capacity and demand for evidence-based support to quit smoking, and ensure we secure a smoke-free United Kingdom where no one is left behind.

In April 2025, a new statutory levy on gambling operators, expected to raise around £100 million per year, was introduced to fund the research, prevention and treatment of gambling-related harms. The levy will be distributed across the three workstreams with 50% allocated to NHS England, alongside appropriate bodies in Scotland and Wales, to commission the development of effective treatment and support services at national and sub-national levels.

Source: Hansard, 12 June 2025
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** Asked by Carla Lockhart, Democratic Unionist Party, Upper Bann
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to tackle the sale of (a) illegal and (b) unregulated vaping products to children and young people.

Answered by Ashley Dalton, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care), Labour, West Lancashire
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will strengthen enforcement and crack down on rogue retailers selling illegal and unregulated vape products to children and young people. The bill introduces new £200 fixed penalty notices in England and Wales for certain tobacco and vape offences, including underage sales, enables the introduction of a retail licensing scheme in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and enables the introduction of a new registration scheme for tobacco, vape, and nicotine products sold in the United Kingdom’s market.

The Government is investing £10 million of new funding in 2025/26 into Trading Standards, to support the enforcement of illicit and underage tobacco and vape sales in England, and to support the implementation of the measures in the bill. This funding is being used to boost the Trading Standards workforce by recruiting approximately 80 new apprentices. The new funding will also support the storage and recycling of seized illicit vapes, the additional work to identify and seize illicit vape consignments at ports, and the training of Trading Standards officers on the new single use vapes ban.

The devolved administrations will need to fund the delivery of the devolved measures in the bill for their nations. The Barnett formula will apply in the usual way, and it is for the devolved administrations to allocate their funding in devolved areas as they see fit.

The introduction of a new Vaping Products Duty in October 2026 will provide civil and criminal powers to HM Revenue and Customs, in order to assess for duty and seize products and equipment used to produce or transport illicit vape products.

Source: Hansard, 12 June 2025
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** Asked by Andrew Rosindell, Conservative, Romford
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make a comparative assessment of the decrease in tobacco duty as set out in HMRC's annual tax receipts bulletin with the ONS smoking prevalence data in (a) 2023 to 2024 and (b) 2024-2025.

Answered by James Murray, Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury) Labour, Ealing North
In 2023/24 tobacco duty receipts totalled £8,804 million. In 2024/25, tobacco duty receipts fell 10% to £7,926 million.
ONS smoking prevalence data is published by calendar year. In 2023 approximately 12% of over 18s in the UK were current smokers. The ONS has yet to publish data on smoking prevalence for 2024.

Source: Hansard, 16 June 2025
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** Asked by Kevin Hollinrake, Conservative, Thirsk and Malton
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to bring forward regulation on vaping stores in (a) high streets and (b) town centres.

Answered by Ashley Dalton, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care), Labour, West Lancashire
It is crucial that we reduce the visibility and accessibility of vapes to protect children from getting hooked on nicotine. That is why the Tobacco and Vapes Bill will ban the advertising and sponsorship of vaping and nicotine products and will provide powers to introduce future regulations on where and how vapes and other nicotine products can be displayed within shops. Analysis and consultation will take place before any specific restrictions are introduced to ensure we are bringing about the most impactful change possible.

The bill will also provide powers for ministers in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland to introduce a licensing scheme for the retail sale of tobacco, vaping, and nicotine products. Introducing a licensing scheme will strengthen enforcement, acting as a deterrent to rogue retailers who breach the law, while supporting legitimate businesses. The scheme will be subject to consultation before regulations are introduced.

Source: Hansard, 16 June 2025

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** Asked by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth, Conservative
To ask His Majesty's Government how much tax revenue they have collected from the vaping industry in each of the past three years for which figures are available.

Answered by Lord Livermore, Financial Secretary (HM Treasury), Labour
HM Revenue & Customs does not hold readily available tax revenue data from the vaping industry.

Source: Hansard, 16 June 2025
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** Asked by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth, Conservative
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they made of the vape ban in Australia when considering the single-use disposal vape ban in the UK.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock, Parliament Under-Secretary (Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), Labour
On 1 June 2025 the sale and supply of disposable vapes across the UK was banned. Officials considered other international bans, such as the one in Australia, as part of the work to develop this policy, but did not formally assess them.

Source: Hansard, 16 June 2025
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ASH Daily News is a digest of published news on smoking-related topics. ASH is not responsible for the content of external websites. ASH does not necessarily endorse the material contained in this bulletin.

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