Health leaders in Humber and North Yorkshire who advocate for tougher measures to help tackle smoking and vaping have welcomed a new tax on vape liquids and rises in smoking taxes, announced by the Chancellor in yesterday's Budget.
The Government is making the following changes to tax on tobacco and vapes:
- Confirmed tobacco tax escalator of RPI + 2% and RPI +12% for hand-rolled tobacco
- Flat-rate tax of £2.20 per 10ml bottle of vape liquid, to be introduced from October 2026
- A one-off increase for tobacco tax in October 2026 to maintain the price differential with vaping and incentivise smokers to switch. This will raise the price of 100 cigarettes and 50 grams of hand-rolled tobacco by £2.20. This is estimated to be equivalent to the value of the tax on vape liquid.
Associate Director of the Humber and North Yorkshire Centre for Excellence in Tobacco Control, Scott Crosby said:
“The cost of smoking to society and the huge strain on the NHS far outweighs the revenue created by tobacco taxes. Continued rises help to encourage smokers to quit and reduce the uptake among young people.
“The new vape fluid tax will help to reduce access to cheap products for children, and importantly also create more powers to tackle illegal imports.
“It’s important that vapes and tobacco keep a price difference to ensure that they are still an incentive for smokers to switch to a less harmful option, but I’m pleased this has been set at a flat rate”
Public Health Charity, ASH has also advocated for a levy on tobacco companies, as have many other leading health organisations.
Commenting on its absence from the budget, Scott Crosby said:
“Many people would find it shocking to know that tobacco companies can make nearly £1 billion in profit each year in the UK, through addicting their customers to a product which destroys families by killing their loved ones.
"The Government could have raised an additional £700 million through a levy structured to reduce the profitability of tobacco companies and cap their prices.
"Like ASH, we encourage the government to look at this again as we know this would be popular with the public.”
The Humber and North Yorkshire Centre for Excellence in Tobacco Control is a ground-breaking regional programme funded by the Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board dedicated to reducing the harm from tobacco. Its manifesto is to unite partners across the Humber and North Yorkshire area to create a future free from tobacco harm by collaborating, coordinating, innovating and amplifying initiatives to end smoking.
More Than 100 Suspected Weapons Seized During 24-Hour Coastal Crackdown
Investors to Visit Scarborough on Fireworks Night to Spark Town Regeneration
£2 Million Contract Awarded For Scarborough Station Transformation
Whitby Town Council Vows To Learn From Historic Mistakes After Borrowing £70k From Art Gallery Reserves
Double National Award Success for New Scarborough Mental Health Centre
Protected Species Almost Held Up Filey Holiday Park Development
Search Begins for £170k Chief Executive at Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority
Scarborough Mayoral Development Zone to Launch Next Month
Beach Water Quality Plans To Be Drawn Up Following Partnership Meeting
Bronze Replicas Of Whitby's Famous Whalebone Arch To Be Cast Next Month
Bridlington Town Secure Deserved 1-0 Away Victory Over Stocksbridge Park Steels
Thousands Of Coast Schoolchildren Discover Offshore Wind Careers As New Maritime Cluster Launches
Comments
Add a comment