Tobacco Control Survey, England 2019-2020
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www.tradingstandards.uk TOBACCO CONTROL SURVEY ENGLAND 2019/20 Jane MacGregor, MacGregor Consulting Limited for the Chartered Trading Standards Institute 18 1 Tobacco Control Survey, England 2019/2020: A Report of Trading Standards Service Activity CONTENTS Summary 4 Premises where products were Figure 7: Percentage of test purchase Introduction 4 non-compliant with SPoT 26 operations resulting in illegal sales Context 5 Actions taken 27 between 2008/09 and 2019/20 12 Methodology 5 Actions taken UAS tobacco 28 Figure 8: Underage sales: tobacco - Actions taken UAS NIPs 28 proportion of test purchase operations Tobacco control activities 6 by type of premises 13 Actions taken illicit tobacco 29 Priority given to tobacco control activities 6 Figure 9: Underage sales: nicotine Tobacco control activities 8 Actions taken TRPRs tobacco 29 inhaling products - total number of test Underage sales 9 Actions taken TRPRs NIPs 30 purchase operations and sales made 15 Tobacco products 10 Actions taken SPoT 31 Figure 10: Underage sales: nicotine Complaints and enquiries received 10 Conclusion 31 inhaling products - percentage visits Complaints and enquiries received by Underage sales: tobacco products 31 resulting in illegal sale 15 premises type 10 Underage sales: NIPs 32 Figure 11: Underage sales: nicotine Test purchase operations for tobacco 11 Illicit tobacco products 32 inhaling products - proportion of test purchase operations by type of premises 16 Number of test purchase operations Tobacco and Related Products resulting in illegal sale 11 Regulations 2016 32 Figure 12: Illicit tobacco - cigarette Proportion of visits to premises resulting brands most frequently found in SPoT Standardised Packaging for Tobacco packaging 19 in a sale 12 Products Regulations 2015 32 Type of premises 12 Figure 13: Illicit tobacco - HRT brands Appendix A: Illicit tobacco: other cigarette most frequently found in SPoT Nicotine inhaling products (NIPs) 13 brands not for legitimate sale in the UK 33 packaging 20 Complaints and enquiries received 13 Appendix B: illicit tobacco: other HRT Figure 14: illicit tobacco: cigarette Complaints and enquiries received by brands not for legitimate sale in the UK 34 brands not for legitimate sale in the UK 21 premises type 14 Figure 15: Illicit tobacco: general intended Test purchase operations for nicotine Table 1: Response rate by council type 6 sales price - illicit cigarettes 22 inhaling products 14 Table 2 Response rate by region 6 Figure 16: Illicit tobacco: HRT brands Proportion of visits to premises resulting not for legitimate sale in the UK 22 in illegal sales 15 Table 3 What in your opinion would encourage / assist your council to give Figure 17: Illicit tobacco: general intended Type of premises 15 a higher priority to tobacco control sales price - illicit hand-rolling tobacco 23 Illicit tobacco products 16 activities in 2020-21? 7 Figure 18: TRPRs: Percentage of Complaints and enquiries 17 Table 4 Proportion of complaints and premises where non-compliant tobacco Complaints and enquiries received by enquiries received by premises type 11 products were found 25 premises type 17 Table 5: Proportion of test operations Figure 19: TRPRs: proportion of premises Visits by trading standards officers 18 resulting in illegal sales by premises where non-compliant nicotine inhaling Visits by trading standards officers by type 13 products were found 26 premises type 18 Table 6: Proportion of complaints and Figure 20: Premises where products were Seizure of illicit tobacco products 18 enquiries received by premises type 14 non-compliant with SPoT 27 Proportion of illicit cigarettes seized in Table 7: Proportion of test operations Figure 21: Proportion of actions taken SPoT packaging 19 resulting in illegal sales by premises against individual or business type UAS tobacco 28 Proportion of illicit hand-rolling tobacco type 16 seized in SPoT packaging 19 Table 8: Illicit tobacco: complaints Figure 22: Proportion of actions taken and enquiries 17 against individual or business type Cigarette brands that are not for UAS NIPs 29 legitimate sale in the UK 20 Table 9: Illicit tobacco: visits by Figure 23: Proportion of actions taken Illicit cigarette seizures: general intended premises type 18 Table 10: Illicit tobacco: seized products 19 against individual or business type sales price 21 illicit tobacco 29 Illicit hand-rolling tobacco brands 22 Table 11: Proportion of council taking each action 27 Figure 24: Proportion of actions taken Illicit hand-rolling tobacco seizures: against individual or business type general intended sales price 23 Table 12: Total number of actions taken by councils 28 TRPRs tobacco 30 Tobacco and Related Products Figure 25: Proportion of actions taken Regulations 2016 23 against individual or business type Checks undertaken to assess tobacco Figure 1: My council prioritises tobacco TRPRs NIPs 30 product compliance with the TRPRs 23 control activity 7 Figure 26: Proportion of actions taken Visits undertaken to assess product Figure 2 : Tobacco control activities 8 against individual or business type compliance with the TRPRs 24 Figure 3 : Tobacco control activities SPoT 31 Premises where non- compliant tobacco 2019/20 Vs 2018/19 8 products were found 24 Figure 4: Smoking prevalence of young Premises where nicotine inhaling people across the Regions6 9 products were non-compliant 25 Figure 5: Current e-cigarette use by age Standardised Packaging of Tobacco of young person9 10 Products Regulations 2015 26 Figure 6: Number of test purchase Checks undertaken to assess tobacco operations and the number resulting product compliance with SPoT in a sale being made 11 requirements 26 2 www.tradingstandards.uk S Summary This report presents results from a survey of trading standards activities carried out by councils in England during the financial year April 2019 to March 2020. An online survey was emailed to all councils undertaking tobacco control activities in England on 15 April 2020 (151 councils in total). The deadline for completion of the survey was 20 May 2020. The survey was completed by 135 councils, which is a response rate of 90%. Grateful thanks are extended to council officers who have made every effort to respond to the survey. This has been a challenging time of national lockdown in accordance with Government requirements to tackle COVID-19. 3 Tobacco Control Survey, England 2019/2020: A Report of Trading Standards Service Activity I Introduction This is the eighth Tobacco Control Survey report produced by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI). It presents the findings of a survey of tobacco control activities carried out by trading standards services between April 2019 and March 2020. The survey has been supported by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and includes questions made at the request of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in relation to the nature of the illegal tobacco market at the local level in England. The core areas of trading standards activity remain largely those associated with the enforcement of tobacco control legislation, namely: • testing the supply of both tobacco and nicotine inhaling products to young people under the age of 18 by the conduct of test purchase operations with underage young persons at retail premises • tackling the supply of illegal tobacco products - that is, brands that are not for legitimate supply in the UK, counterfeit / smuggled tobacco products • assessment of compliance with the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 and the Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations 2015 (SPoT) across a variety of business settings This year the survey asks respondents to identify the priority given to tobacco control activities by their council and to identify what might enhance this priority; this data is to be used to help identify where additional effort is required to promote activities. Whilst this survey presents data for English councils, it should be noted that there are a number of joint services now operating - that is, two or more council areas with one trading standards service. Where this structure exists, data has been requested for each separate council area. 4 www.tradingstandards.uk C CONTEXT Trading standards is responsible for the enforcement of much of the tobacco control legislation in the UK; this survey provides a unique collection of data illustrating the enforcement activities that have been undertaken during the last 12 months by local trading standards services. The most recent data for adult smoking habits. Tobacco control remains a core area of activity for local trading standards services; it is seen as a priority area of activity by almost two thirds of responding councils. The most recent data for adult smoking habits in the UK (2019, published by the Office for National Statistics1) reveals that in England, 13.9% of adults (5.7 million people) smoke. This represents a statistically significant decline from 2011 when smoking prevalence was 19.8%. To continue this downward trend in smoking prevalence, the DHSC published a five-year plan Towards a Smokefree Generation: a Tobacco Control Plan for England 2 in 2017. This plan describes the overall vision of the Government and the ambitions designed to deliver it: …create a smokefree generation. We will have achieved this when smoking prevalence is at 5% or below. To deliver this, the Government sets out the following national ambitions which will help focus tobacco control across the whole system: 1. The first 2. A smokefree 3. Parity of