Contributions
1,620 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Second sitting)Q Thank you and welcome. I reiterate that I am a member of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. My first question is about the medical harms of vaping. We know that…07 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Second sitting)Q You have explained that they are very different roles: in one, there is a level of safety that is checked; in the other, the manufacturers just notify that they are following…07 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Second sitting)Q Welcome to the Committee, and thank you for coming. I want to ask you about the approval process that vapes go through. People say, “This has MHRA approval,” or “This has an…07 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Second sitting)Q Will this Bill help with that? Matthew Shanks: Yes—very much so.07 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Second sitting)Q I have one final quick question on detectors. Some schools have tried detector devices to pick up vape vapour that is not picked up by smoke detectors. What are your thoughts on…07 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Second sitting)Q I agree with you on that. To what extent will the Bill help to resolve, or at least alleviate, the problem of children vaping? Matthew Shanks: At the moment, there is a vacuum…07 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Second sitting)Q Thank you—that is very helpful. We have heard another thing in the past—in fact, a teacher at one of my children’s schools, produced what looked like a small, pink highlighter…07 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Second sitting)Q Is there an effect on their concentration or behaviour in class, for example? It is difficult to prove what is in vapes. Again, there are instances of vapes containing illegal…07 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Second sitting)Q Good afternoon and welcome. We have heard in the past from headteachers and others about the challenges they have faced in schools with vaping in particular. Can you give us an…07 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Second sitting)Q One of my concerns is that it is quite difficult to identify how old somebody is. People can get themselves into trouble with the law by not being very good at identifying…07 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Second sitting)Q Can I ask about staff training? Once the legislation goes through, which we expect it to do, retailers up and down the country will need to ensure that their staff are properly…07 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Second sitting)Q Thank you for coming this afternoon. What do you think will be the challenges facing business in implementing the new age of sale regulations? Inga Becker-Hansen: Good…07 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Second sitting)Yes; what are the challenges in implementing the new regulations? Inga Becker-Hansen: One of the key challenges of age verification is this idea of the rolling age for the…07 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Second sitting)Thank you, that is a really helpful answer. We know that vapes are very difficult to dispose of and to recycle.07 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Second sitting)Q Lord Bichard, you talked at the beginning of your remarks about resources. Do you think that trading standards have enough resources to implement the regulations and enforce…07 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Second sitting)Q But if you are asking people to ask someone under 30 for their ID, for example, is there any training available to enable young—or old—shopkeepers to identify which people are…07 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Second sitting)Q Can I ask you about the training available to staff and shops who are being asked to comply with this? We have heard of Challenge 25, where people are told, “If you think…07 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Second sitting)Q Then you welcome the concept of being able to say, “This is the first offence; this is an educational opportunity, rather than an opportunity for a penalty.”? Lord Michael…07 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Second sitting)Q I do not think the microphones are working terribly well today. Wendy, do you have any thoughts on the size of the fines? Wendy Martin: Lord Bichard has spoken about the rather…07 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Second sitting)Q Thank you for giving evidence this afternoon. Do you think that the penalties proposed by the legislation are too high or too low, or are they sufficient to act as a deterrent?…07 Jan 2025