A landmark moment for public health: Tobacco and Vapes Act

The Tobacco and Vapes Act marks a landmark moment for public health. With Royal Assent now secured, local government will begin preparing for the practical work needed to deliver its ambition. The Act establishes a smokefree generation, ensuring that anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 will never legally be sold tobacco. It also strengthens the regulation of vapes and nicotine products, reducing their appeal to young people and better protecting children from nicotine addiction.

Smoking remains one of the biggest preventable causes of ill health. In 2024, 10.6 per cent of adults aged 18 or over, around 5.3 million people, were current smokers. The proportion of current smokers has fallen by 9.6 percentage points since 2011 when it stood at 20.2 per cent. Youth vaping has also risen sharply. NHS data shows that a quarter of 11 to 15 year olds have tried vaping and nearly one in ten use vapes regularly or occasionally. 

What the Act does

Smoking remains one of the biggest preventable causes of ill health. In 2024, 10.6 per cent of adults aged 18 or over, around 5.3 million people, were current smokers. The proportion of current smokers has fallen by 9.6 percentage points since 2011 when it stood at 20.2 per cent. Youth vaping has also risen sharply. NHS data shows that a quarter of 11 to 15 year olds have tried vaping and nearly one in ten use vapes regularly or occasionally. 

What the Act does

The Act introduces new offences and restrictions on the sale of tobacco, vaping and nicotine products. These include the creation of a smokefree generation, new proxy purchasing offences, a ban on free distribution or substantial discounting of vapes and nicotine products, and a ban on vending machines for vapes, nicotine and herbal smoking products. It introduces a new Fixed Penalty Notice system that will allow councils to take enforcement action quickly and visibly for underage sales, breaches of the smokefree generation rule, illegal displays and other offences.

The Act also gives Government the power to introduce mandatory licensing for retailers selling tobacco, vapes and nicotine products. This would require personal licences for staff and premises licences for businesses once secondary legislation is introduced. Retailers will need to display updated age of sale signage from 1 January 2027. Ministers will also be able to regulate flavours, packaging, branding, product shapes and digital features that increase youth appeal. The Act allows Government to extend smokefree and vapefree zones in public outdoor areas following consultation.

Why local government supports the Act

Councils see the effects of smoking on communities every day. Smoking drives chronic disease, increases pressure on health and care services and widens health inequalities. National action on tobacco control has delivered major health gains over the past two decades, even though many steps were criticised as nanny state at the time. History shows that strong regulation works and that public support grows once measures are in place. The Commons has shown similar resolve now and councils welcome this bold step.

Youth vaping presents a growing challenge for families, schools and public health teams. Stronger regulation of packaging, displays, flavours and marketing is necessary and long overdue. These measures will make it harder for products to be designed or presented in ways that appeal to children. 

Local government is not anti-vape. Vaping is significantly safer than smoking and is an important quitting aid for adults who smoke. However, as Professor Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer, reminds us: if you have never smoked, do not vape.

The role of public health teams

Directors of Public Health and their teams will be essential to the success of the Act. Alongside enforcement, councils provide frontline support to help smokers quit. Local stop smoking services remain among the most effective tools available, offering behavioural support, licensed treatments and targeted help for communities with the highest smoking rates. 

A significant responsibility for Trading Standards

Trading Standards teams will be central to delivery and face one of the biggest enforcement expansions in recent years. The Act places responsibility on local authorities to uphold age of sale rules for tobacco, vapes and nicotine products, to issue Fixed Penalty Notices, carry out test purchases and inspect retailers. But the task goes far beyond traditional underage sales checks. Trading Standards will be expected to respond quickly to intelligence about illegal sales, illicit vapes, counterfeit or unsafe products, and the activities of rogue traders who deliberately target young people.

The illicit market for tobacco and vapes has grown rapidly, and recent national operations show an alarming surge in illegal products entering local high streets. Trading Standards teams across England seized more than a million illegal vapes in a single year and found that nearly a quarter of test purchases resulted in sales to children. Councils will need the boots on the ground capacity to disrupt these networks, seize dangerous goods, and ensure that legitimate retailers are not undercut by criminal actors. This is enforcement work that requires time, specialist skills and ongoing investigative capacity.

Environmental Health responsibilities

Environmental Health teams will also play a key role. The Act gives the Government powers to expand smokefree places and introduce vape free places, including specific outdoor settings such as areas outside schools, playgrounds and hospitals. These measures are typically enforced by Environmental Health, who already enforce smokefree legislation in workplaces, hospitality venues and public spaces. 

Licensing and wider implementation

When introduced through secondary legislation, the new licensing scheme will require councils to manage applications, renewals and compliance checks and link these processes to Trading Standards enforcement. Officers will need to prepare systems, update protocols, brief retailers, plan communications and support small businesses.
Most measures will commence six months after Royal Assent. Councils therefore need timely clarity on commencement dates, the expected scale of enforcement activity and the funding required to deliver it. Capacity in Trading Standards, Licensing, Public Health and Environmental Health has been under strain for many years. Long term investment is essential if the ambitions of the Act are to be realised.

With the right investment and a strong partnership between national and local government, the Tobacco and Vapes Act can become one of the most powerful public health legacies we hand to the next generation. 
Council teams will be at the heart of turning this vision into reality. Every conversation with a smoker ready to try again, every bit of guidance for a worried parent, every enforcement visit that protects a child from illegal sales moves us closer to a healthier future.

This is a world leading approach to prevent the next generation from ever starting to smoke. It captures something hopeful and deeply human: the belief that we can change the story for our children and that the choices we make now will shape the lives they go on to live.

Public support is strong, the evidence is clear and the need could not be greater. A smokefree generation is finally within reach. Local government stands ready to play its part and to help deliver a future where fewer families lose loved ones too soon and where every child can breathe a little easier.

Councillor Dr Wendy Taylor MBE
Chair, LGA Health and Wellbeing Committee