Local authority leaders have welcomed the prospect of new powers to discourage smoking.
The Government is today introducing the Tobacco and Vapes Bill to Parliament.
The new Bill aims to ensure that children turning 15 this year or younger will never legally be able to buy tobacco.
It will empower council officers to issue £100 on-the-spot fines to retailers breaking a new law intended to ban future generations from smoking
‘If we want to build a better future for our children we need to tackle the single biggest entirely preventable cause of ill-health, disability and death: smoking,’ said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
‘That is why, alongside new measures to curb the alarming rise in youth vaping, we are delivering on our commitment to create a smokefree generation and stop our kids from getting hooked on harmful cigarettes and other nicotine products.
‘This important change will save thousands of lives and billions of pounds for our NHS, freeing up new resource that can be spent to improve outcomes for patients right across the UK.’
Responding to the publication of the Bill, Cllr David Fothergill, chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, said: ‘Councils work hard in their communities to help long term smokers quit and so are fully supportive of the Government’s smokefree generation ambitions.
‘Smoking remains one of the leading causes of preventable ill health, disability, and death in England. This creates additional pressures on our health and care systems and affects the quality of life for some in our local communities.’
