During the third reading of the Children and Families Bill this week in the House of Lords, Peers agreed to a package of tobacco control measures aimed at reducing the take-up of smoking by young children and at reducing their exposure to smoke.
Approval was finally given to a Government amendment to facilitate a ban on smoking in cars when children are present, following a defeat over the issue at the Bill’s report stage.
Peers voted in January to add a Labour amendment to the Bill that would pave the way for the ban, despite opposition from the Government, which later shifted its position.
Health Minister Earl Howe told Peers that the amendment would ensure that the move was legally workable, as it will amend existing smoke-free legislation in the Health Act 2006 to make it clear that the Secretary of State and Welsh ministers have the power to make regulations to provide for a private vehicle to be smoke-free when a person under the age of 18 is present.
The Bill was also amended to make it illegal for adults to purchase tobacco products for children and to ban the sale of e-cigarettes to under-18s. Lord Howe explained that the new ‘proxy purchase’ offence would be enforced by local authority trading standard officers, who will have the flexibility to issue fixed-penalty notices if they believe an offence has been committed.
Peers from all sides welcomed the changes, while one remarked that the amendments were a “landmark set of measures for child protection and the public health of young people”, and demonstrated what the Lords could achieve when it works in a non-partisan way.
The Bill, which has completed all its legislative stages in the Lords, will now be sent to the Commons where MPs will give their verdict on the measures.