What the new Act will do
The Act represents a once‑in‑a‑generation opportunity to protect children and young people from the harms of tobacco and nicotine, while reducing future pressures on the NHS.
- The legislation will make it illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009.
- The Act bans advertising and sponsorship for vapes and nicotine products, and gives government powers to regulate their packaging, flavours and display.
- It enables government to strengthen smoke-free protections, including in certain outdoor settings (subject to secondary legislation).
- It includes powers for a retail licensing scheme for tobacco, vape and nicotine products.
- It strengthens enforcement by enabling Trading Standards to issue fixed penalty notices for underage sales and other offences.
- It applies UK-wide and has been developed in partnership with the Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive.
RCPCH President, Professor Steve Turner, said:
The Tobacco and Vapes Act has the exact type of bold ambition and long‑term thinking that makes meaningful change for children and young people. This will help to improve child health outcomes and narrow the unacceptable health inequalities gap.
Paediatricians are thrilled to have supported this important legislation, which will reduce the unacceptable burden that tobacco and vaping places on today’s youth, and also protect future generations from the harms of nicotine addiction. I celebrate this landmark moment for child health. This is a clear signal that the wellbeing of children and young people can and should come first.
RCPCH has worked on behalf of our members to shape, support and strengthen the Bill at every stage of its passage through Parliament. Below are some of the key moments in the Bill’s journey and the role the College played throughout.
Shaping policy
In December 2023, we welcomed the Government’s plans to create a “smokefree generation” and tackle youth vaping. We responded to the Government’s consultation on how this ambition could be delivered in practice, setting out our support for raising the age of sale of tobacco. Our response also emphasised the need to address the rise in youth vaping, backing the Government’s proposals to restrict flavours, packaging and advertising, and calling for the inclusion of a full ban on disposable vapes.
The first Tobacco and Vapes Bill
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill was first introduced in March 2024. The Bill originated under the previous government but fell when Parliament was dissolved ahead of the 2024 general election.
In April 2024, ahead of the Bill’s second reading (where MPs have their first opportunity to debate the Bill), we supported a briefing led by Action of Smoking and Health (ASH) explaining why this legislation is needed, wanted, and workable and made clear the importance of the Bill for protecting children’s health in a statement alongside the National Children’s Bureau (NCB) and other leading children’s and health organisations.
General election and loss of the Bill
It was deeply disappointing when the Bill did not complete its passage through Parliament ahead of the 2024 general election. At that point, we made clear that the legislation must be brought back at the earliest opportunity and remain a priority for the next Government, given the scale of preventable harm caused by tobacco and nicotine.
Securing the ban on disposable vapes
Alongside the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, we continued to shine a spotlight on the issue of youth vaping, and growing appeal of disposable vapes to children and young people, the risks of nicotine addiction and the serious environmental damage caused by single‑use products.
Paediatricians led the call on the UK Government to ban disposable e‑cigarettes, with the issue receiving widespread media attention.
We were delighted to see our campaigning pay off with a ban first announced in January 2024, and later confirmed by the successive government in October 2024.
Dr Mike McKean, RCPCH Vice President for Policy said at the time:
Paediatricians have repeatedly warned that disposable vapes are bad news for children and our planet and we’re delighted that the Westminster Government has heard our calls. Bold action was always needed to curb youth vaping and banning disposables is a meaningful step in the right direction.
Bill returns to Parliament
In November 2024, we welcomed the Bill’s reintroduction following the King’s Speech. Ahead of the Bill’s second reading, RCPCH coordinated a joint letter signed by organisations representing over 850,000 healthcare professionals, calling on MPs from across the political spectrum to support the legislation and act decisively to protect children’s health.
In January 2025, RCPCH’s President gave oral evidence to the Bill Committee, drawing directly on the experiences of paediatricians and the latest public health evidence. This followed oral evidence that our President gave when the Bill was first introduced by the previous Conservative Government.
Final stages
As the Bill progressed to the House of Lords, RCPCH continued to support cross sector calls for swift passage of the legislation. In November 2025, we joined over 1,200 health leaders publicly urging Parliament to act quickly to ensure the Bill became law without delay.
Looking ahead
Royal Assent marks a historic step in protecting children and young people from the harms of tobacco and nicotine, while helping to reduce future pressures on the NHS. However, effective implementation, enforcement and ongoing monitoring will be essential to achieving its ambition. RCPCH will continue to work with governments across the UK to help ensure the promise of a smokefree generation becomes a reality.
In the coming months, we will publish a new systematic review on the impact of vaping on children and young people, which will inform our future engagement on the regulations supporting the Act. We will also relaunch our State of Child Health, with smoking and vaping among the key indicators we will track to monitor children’s health over time.