Baroness Northover (LD)

I very much support my noble friend Lord Russell’s amendments, which seek to address the abuse of vapes and other nicotine products. When you go into any local shop or see adverts, you must mentally think that those promoting these should hang their heads in shame. I mentioned in Committee the example from my own extended family, where vaping has been the route for teenage relatives to become addicted to nicotine and, from there, to smoking. So I fully support everything that we are doing to reduce nicotine dependency, and I support my noble friend’s amendments here. Despite that, we welcome the Government’s amendments that create an exemption for mental health settings, allowing the continued use of vape vending machines. Written evidence submitted to the Bill Committee by, for example, the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust and others made it clear that vape vending machines located in mental health wards are currently a crucial part of delivering effective smoking cessation services. Several trusts using these machines have reported that they provide a safe and straightforward way of ensuring that patients can access vapes when they need them. It is therefore welcome that the Government have listened to this evidence and made this concession. In England, vapes are now the most commonly used smoking cessation aid, and it is awful that they have been exploited for other purposes. Nevertheless, vaping is recommended by NICE as the first-line smoking cessation tool and is more effective than traditional nicotine replacement therapies. Smoking prevalence in in-patient mental health settings remains extremely high, with estimates of about 50% overall and some studies reporting rates as high as 80% in individual hospitals, so I see why the Government have decided to take this particular measure forward. Although it is technically possible for vending machines to be stocked with other forms of nicotine replacement therapy, this would not reflect patient preference, and we need to be guided by what works to support smokers to quit. As my noble friend Lord Russell said, that is what vapes should be about. The risks associated with proxy purchasing would seem to be low, particularly in closed wards, but I would be interested to hear from the Minister further on this point and to have clarification on how she envisages these machines operating within the new licensing scheme. Therefore, although we accept the Government’s amendments in relation to mental health settings, we think that they need to do more to tackle the awful spread of nicotine addiction that we now see among young people. I look forward to the Minister’s response.