Vaping could be banned in cars carrying children, as well as in playgrounds and outside schools, according to government plans.<\/p>\n
The plans – which are subject to a 12-week public consultation – seek to prevent smoking, vaping and the use of heated tobacco in these settings across England.<\/p>\n
Indoor spaces – where smoking is already banned – would also become vape and heated tobacco-free under the proposals, as would areas outside hospitals.<\/p>\n
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said children and patients should not have to suffer because others choose to smoke.<\/p>\n
“Second-hand smoke increases the risk of heart disease and lung cancer and we want to protect children and the sick from harm,” he said.<\/p>\n
“Prevention is better than cure, so this government is taking pressure off the NHS and building a healthier Britain where everyone lives well for longer.”<\/p>\n
England’s chief medical officer Prof Sir Chris Whitty listed asthma, poor birth outcomes, several cancers, heart disease and stroke as some of the “significant harmful effects” of second-hand smoking.<\/p>\n
“These measures would reduce the harm second-hand smoke causes the most medically vulnerable in our society,” he added.<\/p>\n
The proposals form part of the government’s 10-year health plan to shift the focus from sickness to prevention, as well as reduce the pressures on the NHS.<\/p>\n
“The government aims to prevent avoidable harm before it happens and support a healthier generation,” it explained in a statement.<\/p>\n
A public consultation launched on Friday is seeking views on points such as which settings should have a ban implemented, exemptions, and how to inform people of the restrictions.<\/p>\n
The government said findings from the consultation will “help shape future regulations under the Tobacco and Vapes Bill”, which it said will “create a smoke-free generation and protect young people from a lifetime of addiction”.<\/p>\n
The bill is currently progressing through parliament, it added.<\/p>\n
Outdoor hospitality venues like pub gardens and wider open spaces such as beaches and private outdoor spaces are not included in the plans.<\/p>\n
People will also be able to continue smoking and vaping in their homes.<\/p>\n
If the ban goes ahead, enforcement would “mirror existing smoke-free laws”, the statement said, adding there will be a minimum of six months between the regulations being made and coming into force.<\/p>\n
The British Heart Foundation’s chief executive Dr Charmaine Griffiths said the research charity strongly supports the consultation and is calling for urgent implementation of the legislation.<\/p>\n
“Tough measures must be taken to prevent smoking from robbing more families of their loved ones and harming vulnerable people,” she said.<\/p>\n
The consultation will run for 12 weeks and will end on 8 May 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Vaping could be banned in cars carrying children, as well as in playgrounds and outside schools, according to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":414589,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[49,48,7220,191902,84,191903,91277,3378,57361,101463],"class_list":["post-471760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-chief-medical-officer","tag-government-plans","tag-health","tag-heated-tobacco","tag-public-consultation","tag-smoking","tag-vaping","tag-wes-streeting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=471760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471760\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/414589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=471760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=471760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=471760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}