Tobacco and Vapes Bill

Written evidence submitted by Paul Cheema to the Tobacco and Vapes Bill Public Bill Committee (TVB15)

Here are my points as an independent retailer running two sites in Coventry:

· Malcolm’s Costcutter CV4 9EU

· Malcolm’s Texaco CV4 9HU

 Firstly, let me point out that I do engage with all Tobacco manufactures at my stores and have done for many years. These relationships do not have any impact on what I am writing in this email. 

 

SMOKE FREE GENERATION

 

Increasing the age for shoppers to be able to purchase such products instore. This will increase the following in view-

1. Abuse to teams within the retail network. How can you say to one yes and the other no with only a day difference in age. Are you taking away the human rights of what a consumer can and cannot do?

2. Black market. This will increase above the levels that we are seeing today. Government and local councils still to date do not have enough resources to solve this issue. That is fact!

3. Will this have a massive impact on local stores and the high street? The shopper that comes in for cigarettes also purchases more items instore. So, this will impact sales and revenue to stores and maybe even force some stores to close. Have you the government thought about this impact to livelihoods?

4. Today we sell less than 50% Tobacco than we did 5 years ago, and we know what this has done to our footfall, and this has results in job losses.

VAPING AND CHILDREN

 

1. So I totally agree that more needs to be done around this issue.

2. Task force’s need to be set up and intelligence needs to gathered from the retailers and trading standards to bring down the organised gangs that are flooding  the UK market with illegal vapes. This would reduce these items getting to the hands of underage vapers. I see this on a day-to-day basis from children holding them in their hands and when asked the question – who sells them? The shop down the road or the internet. These shops are run by cartels in my view, just like the increase in barber shops for an example!

3. Maybe put a license scheme in just like we have to sell Alcohol products.

TO SUM UP

· ABUSE TO STORE TEAMS

· FINANCIAL IMPACT

· STORE CLOSURES AND THE IMPACT TO HIGH STREET

· HOWEVER, I DO SUPPORT THAT CHILDREN UNDER THE OF 18 SHOULD NOT SMOKE AND BE SOLD SUCH PRODUCTS

· MORE EDUCATION IN SCHOOL REQUIRED ON THIS

· PARENTS SHOULD NOT BUY FOR THEIR UNDERAGE CHILDREN

April 2024