Tobacco and Vapes Bill

Written evidence submitted by the Institute of Licensing to the Tobacco and Vapes Public Bill Committee (TVB69)

Aims of the Bill

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill aims to create a smoke-free UK. It is designed to:

· create a smoke-free generation, gradually ending the sale of tobacco products across the country and breaking the cycle of addiction and disadvantage;

· strengthen the existing powers to ban smoking in public places to reduce harms of passive smoking, particularly around children and vulnerable people;

· ban vapes and nicotine products from being deliberately branded, promoted, and advertised to children to stop the next generation from becoming hooked on nicotine;

· provide powers to introduce a licensing scheme for the retail sale of tobacco, vapes and nicotine products in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and to extend the retail registration scheme in Scotland, and strengthen enforcement activity to support the implementation of the above measures.

1. The Institute of Licensing (IoL) is the professional body for licensing practitioners across the UK. Our membership comprises circa 5,000 members including regulators (local authority and police), industry, and private practice (lawyers, trainers and consultants) with an interest in licensing. Our charitable objectives concern raising the professionalism of licensing in all areas, education (training), information and communication on all licensing and related matters and promoting mutual understanding and best practice throughout.

2. Our submission is confined to the provisions concerning the introduction of a licensing scheme for the retail sale of tobacco, vapes and nicotine products in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the extension of the retailer registration scheme in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

3. The Bill requires the regulations to make provision for personal and premises licences within a framework which has strong similarities with the Licensing Act 2003 in England and Wales and the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 in Scotland. Much of the detail on how the licensing scheme will work in practice is to be introduced by way of future regulations by the Secretary of State.

Consultation

4. We request that the IoL is treated as a key consultee when drafting these regulations. We are keen to assist at all stages of this work. The IoL is the expert body for licensing with unparalleled expertise in licensing law and practice given our experience of other similar licensing regimes. As such, we are well placed to work with Parliament and the government to ensure that the licensing provisions achieve their objectives and are workable.

Licensing Authorities

5. The licensing authorities currently responsible for premises and personal licences under the Licensing Act 2003 (which regulates alcohol, regulated entertainment and late night refreshment) are well placed to administer the new tobacco and vapes licensing regime, and already have detailed knowledge and experience of licensing functions, including licensing policy, licence application administration, committee processes and hearings, imposing conditions and enforcement for both personal and premises licences. They will also have the existing infrastructure in terms of suitable software solutions and staffing resources to be able to administer what will be a brand-new licensing regime. In addition, licensing officers will have existing knowledge of (and contact with) many retailers through other licensing regimes including alcohol.

6. For all these reasons, we suggest the procedures put in place for the new licensing regime closely follow the existing ones under the Licensing Act 2003 in so far as relevant and the body identified as the licensing authority for the tobacco regime mirrors that already in place under the Licensing Act 2003.

Enforcement / responsible authorities

7. We note that the enforcement powers in relation to breaches of the new regulatory regime is currently confined to the local weights and measures authority in England and Wales (i.e. Council Trading Standards officers). We would strongly suggest that consideration is given to extending enforcement powers to the police and to licensing authority officers (i.e. licensing officers) as well. This is already the case under the Licensing Act 2003. In many instances licensing and/or police officers may be better placed to take enforcement action than trading standards officers and they are generally more numerous. For example, licensing officers will often inspect convenience stores and off-licences which also sell tobacco. It would be unhelpful to the objectives of the Bill if those officers could only take enforcement action in relation to regulatory breaches relating to alcohol but not breaches relating to tobacco or vapes. This can be achieved either by specific bodies being named in the new law as having those powers, or else by giving the licensing authority a power to delegate enforcement powers under the new Act to those officers it deems appropriate. We note and support in principle the provisions relating to fee setting and payment to other authorities with responsibilities under this regime. For the new regulatory regime to work, the licensing authority must be fully funded in carrying out its tasks.

Personal licences

8. There are other matters which we would strongly suggest are considered when drafting the regulations concerning licensing arrangements, but in particular we would highlight now some key considerations for personal licences including:

a. A national database and a duration for licences with a renewal process – this ensures that licences are kept current and suitability is periodically reviewed. Under the Licensing Act 2003 in England and Wales personal licences are portable and do not require renewal. However, there is no national database, and so there is now an unknown number of personal licences no longer in use, or where the holder has died. This database will also enable a licensing authority in one area to know if a personal licence holder has been subject to enforcement action in another area. This information is highly relevant to a licensing authority’s assessment of the suitability of an individual to hold a personal licence.

b. Powers for local authorities to review, suspend and revoke personal licences – this was an amendment to the Licensing Act provisions in England and Wales strongly supported by the IoL. The original provisions which only allowed the court to take action on the licence where a licence holder was convicted of a relevant offence were insufficient as they depended on the court being aware of the existence of the personal licence and notifying the licensing authority.

We hope that these points are useful in the deliberations of Parliament and the government on the Tobacco and Vapes Bill and future regulations and would reiterate that the IoL is keen to assist at all stages of the development of forthcoming licensing legislation.

Yours sincerely

Sue Nelson

Executive Officer, Institute of Licensing

January 2025