Plans to ban smoking outside schools and hospitals in England have been broadly welcomed, but experts and charities say there is still an urgent need for investment in NHS stop smoking services.
The main focus of the updated Tobacco and Vapes Bill, laid before Parliament on 5 November, is to make it illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009, with the aim of creating the first smokefree generation.1 The bill completed committee stage in the last parliament. The new bill goes further than the last one by giving the government powers to extend the indoor smoking ban to specific outdoor spaces, with children’s playgrounds, areas outside schools, and hospitals all being considered, subject to consultation.
However, the government has dropped plans to outlaw smoking outside pubs and restaurants, after an outcry from the hospitality industry.
The new bill will also ban advertising and sponsorship of vapes and will create new powers to restrict the flavours, display, and packaging of all types of vapes.
Disposable vapes are also due to be banned from 1 June 2025 under separate environmental legislation.2
The bill will also include powers to introduce a licensing scheme for retailers …
