Tobacco and Vapes Bill Report Stage: Amendment 1

What happened: On 26 March 2025, the House of Commons voted on Amendment 1 to the Tobacco and Vapes Bill at Report Stage. The amendment, tabled by Liberal Democrat MP Helen Morgan and colleagues, would have required that money raised from fixed penalty notices issued under the Bill be retained by local authorities and directed toward public health initiatives. The amendment was defeated by 304 votes to 72.

Why it matters: The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is designed to create a "smokefree generation" by progressively raising the legal age of tobacco purchase, meaning a person aged 16 in 2025 would never legally be sold tobacco products. Fixed penalty notices are one of the enforcement mechanisms in the Bill, issued to retailers who breach its provisions. The amendment sought to ensure that fine revenue flowed back to local authorities to fund public health work, rather than going to central government. Its defeat means the existing arrangements, under which some fine income can be retained to make enforcement cost-neutral for local authorities, remain unchanged rather than being expanded into a broader local public health funding stream.

The politics: The Liberal Democrats voted overwhelmingly in favour of the amendment, providing 60 of the 72 aye votes. Labour and Labour and Co-operative MPs voted unanimously against, reflecting the government's position. A small number of Conservatives (4), Plaid Cymru members (3), and Green Party members (3) also voted aye. The broader debate on the Bill showed cross-party support for the core legislation, with Conservatives noting their own party had introduced a similar Bill in the previous Parliament. The Bill passed its Third Reading on the same day by 366 votes to 41, underscoring the wide parliamentary consensus on the underlying policy even as individual amendments were contested.