My Lords, Amendment 56NC, in the names of my noble friends, makes tobacco proxy purchasing an offence, punishable by a maximum £5,000 fine—the same penalty as for alcohol. It is illegal across the UK to sell tobacco products to anyone under the age of 18. However, it is not an offence for someone to buy tobacco products on behalf of a minor. We believe that that is a significant loophole in our system. Proxy purchasing of alcohol is already illegal across the UK, but that is not the case with tobacco products. That is why we want this to be remedied. Getting someone else to buy on their behalf is one of the chief ways in which young people access tobacco products. Trading Standards has estimated that nearly half, or 46% of underage smokers, regularly get their tobacco from a proxy purchaser. Given the Government’s latest extremely welcome U-turn on plain packaging, I should have thought that the Minister, on behalf of the Government, would be seeking to deal with this issue.
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A study in 2011 found that 53% of occasional smokers and 89% of regular smokers had used proxy sales as a means of accessing tobacco in the previous year. Proxy purchasing tobacco is already illegal in Scotland, under the Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2010, and the Northern Ireland Executive are currently supporting an amendment that would ban it there, too. This would leave England and Wales as the only places in the UK where it is still legal. A law to ban proxy purchasing tobacco products for under-18s has already received public support from the Association of Convenience Stores, which says that it is in favour of a ban on proxy purchasing tobacco products to bring the legislation in line with the purchase of alcohol.
It is with some disappointment that, during a debate in the tobacco products directive, Jane Ellison, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health, said:
“Many children who smoke get their cigarettes from friends and family, and from other children who share cigarettes in parks and playgrounds. An offence of proxy purchasing would be unlikely to stop family members or friends giving cigarettes to young people”.—[Official Report, Commons, 28/10/13; col. 736.]
We disagree with her; we think that the evidence clearly reflects that tobacco proxy sales are a means for under-18s obtaining cigarettes and then, as we know, becoming addicted at that young age. That is why we have tabled Amendment 56NC.
Tobacco proxy sales pose a significant problem. They have a harmful impact on the health of those under 18, for the rest of their lives. We urge the Government to consider our amendment and make proxy purchasing tobacco products on behalf of children an offence, as Scotland has and Northern Ireland is considering doing. I beg to move.