Smoking
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the impact of the generational smoking ban on Exchequer revenues in the context of the findings of the Office for Budget Responsibility outlined on page 42 of the Institute of Fiscal Studies' report entitled The outlook for the public finances in the new parliament, published on 10 October 2024.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will be the biggest public health intervention in a generation, tackling the harms of smoking and paving the way for a smoke-free United Kingdom. Smoking costs the economy and wider society £21.8 billion a year. This includes an annual £18.3 billion loss to productivity, through smoking related lost earnings, unemployment, and early death, along with £3.1 billion of costs to the National Health Service and social care. This exceeds the £8.8 billion received in tobacco duties in 2023/24.
Alongside the bill, we will publish an impact assessment which will include an estimate for the impact on tobacco duty receipts. HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs have consulted on proposals for a Vaping Products Duty. This would seek to discourage non-smokers and young people from taking up vaping and to raise revenue. HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs are reviewing the responses to this consultation and will respond in due course.
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