Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is expected to complete its passage within the current UK Parliamentary session (2024-2025). The Bill provides that the changes to the age of sale for tobacco products will come into force on 1 January 2027. When other parts of the Bill come into force depends on when the Bill is passed, and it will not be possible to make any regulations in advance of the Bill coming into force. However, officials are working across the 4-nations to prepare for implementation. Once the Bill has passed Parliament will be updated on a confirmed timescale for implementation.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is expected to complete its passage within the current UK Parliamentary session (2024/2025). The Bill explicitly states that the changes to the age of sale for tobacco products will come into force on 1 January 2027. Any changes to this date would require amendments to the Bill and so it is not expected that this date would be impacted by any delay to the Bill passing within this session. Other parts of the Bill will come into force on set periods of time after Royal Assent or by dates to be set in regulations. It will not be possible to make any regulations in advance of the Bill coming into force. However, the Scottish Government is working with officials across the 4-nations to prepare for implementation and, in the event of any delay, the impact is expected to be minimal. Once the Bill has passed, Parliament will be updated on a confirmed timescale for implementation.

Scotland level information on costs for each of the years requested is not available. However, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) commissioned Landman Economics to provide updated analysis on costs of smoking which was published in January 2025. This analysis estimated the UK wide productivity costs of smoking in 2024 were £32.777 billion

The Scottish Government’s position is that vapes and other nicotine products are part of a range of possible cessation tools available to existing smokers to help stop tobacco use. They are not without risk and should never be used by children or adult non-smokers.

As part of our commitment to New Deal for Business, Scottish Government met with the Regulatory Review Group (RRG) on the Tobacco and Vapes Bill earlier this year to ensure that any impact of proposals on business is fully understood and that policy implementation is effective and proportionate while still delivering the beneficial outcomes for population health sought.

When the Bill passes, we will continue to work with the RRG and tobacco and nicotine retailers to support business to prepare for and understand what is required to implement the new measures. The refreshed Tobacco and Vapes retail register which was launched in January 2025 will be our key tool for engagement with retailers as well as a tool to support enforcement.

Our Tobacco and Vaping Framework renewed our commitment to cessation services as part of decisive action to reduce smoking rates to ensure we meet our 2034 Tobacco-Free Scotland target.

The Scottish Government are continuing to implement the recommendations from the Public Health Scotland (PHS) Review of Smoking Cessation Services in Scotland and to consider how these important services can continue to develop in the future. This includes the Public Health Action Team on Smoking Cessation, a collaboration between PHS, Scottish Government and NHS Boards, which is supporting the continuous improvement of local smoking cessation services.

The NHS stop smoking service Quit Your Way Scotland offers free expert advice and direct users to local services where they can access a range of support, medications and products.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is expected to complete its passage within the current UK Parliamentary session (2024-2025). The Bill provides that the changes to the age of sale for tobacco products will come into force on 1 January 2027 and that date would not be impacted by any delay to the Bill passing. When other parts of the Bill come into force depends on when the Bill is passed, and it will not be possible to make any regulations in advance of the Bill coming into force. However, Scottish Government is working with officials across the 4-nations to prepare for implementation and, in the event of any delay, the impact is expected to be minimal. Once the Bill has passed, Parliament will be updated on a confirmed timescale for implementation.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-39497 on 15 August 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

These are operational decisions for ScotRail Trains Ltd. In discharging its operational responsibilities, SRT is required to comply with Scottish Government Fair Work policies.

The Scottish Government Planning Application Statistics (PAS) asks planning authorities to indicate the number of planning applications they have decided for major housing developments (50 or more dwellings or a site area that is or exceeds two hectares) and local housing developments (less than 50 dwellings or a site area of less than two hectares). The PAS does not include the number of new homes approved in each reporting period.

The number of decisions made on local planning applications for housing for the period 2021-22 - 2023-24 is:

• 2021-22 - 4608
• 2022-23 - 4194
• 2023-24 - 3653

The number of decisions made on major planning applications for housing for the period 2021-22 - 2023-24 is:

• 2021-22 - 123
• 2022-23 - 97
• 2023-24 - 77

Total numbers of approvals can vary from year to year in line with numbers of applications submitted in any given period. The overall rate of approvals of applications in 2023-24 was 92.3%.

The CMA’s Housebuilding Market Study included figures for the number of housing units given planning approval from 2014-15 – 2021-22, informed by the Home Builders Federation’s (HBF) quarterly “New Housing Pipeline” report. This report is published on the HBF’s website, and the most recent edition records a figure for the number of housing units given planning consent for all of Scotland in the years 2022 - 2024 as:

• 2022: 26,301
• 2023: 23,867
• 2024: 24,054

The Housing Statistics for Scotland Quarterly Update: New Housebuilding and Affordable Housing Supply records the number of new dwellings started in Scotland for the years 2022 - 2024 as:

• 2022: 22,088
• 2023: 16,849
• 2024: 15,759

The Housing Statistics for Scotland Quarterly Update: New Housebuilding and Affordable Housing Supply records the number of new dwellings completed in Scotland for the years 2022 - 2024 as:

• 2022: 23,486
• 2023: 21,318
• 2024: 19,988