Health Bill [HL]

I shall speak also to the other amendments in the group. The purpose of most of these amendments is to prohibit the sale of tobacco in vending machines in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. If the Government are not minded to go quite as far as prohibiting vending machines, four of the amendments provide that they can be prohibited with a small number of exceptions. That is the purpose of these amendments. I declare an interest as a council member of the British Heart Foundation, from whom I have received briefing, but it should be said that I have received briefing material from those on both sides of the argument. I should also say where I am coming from: as a former Permanent Secretary, I understand the Minister’s dilemma in seeking the correct balance between the rights of individuals to do something that is legal, the rights of businesses to carry on a legal trade and the Government’s wish to help people to give up smoking and to stop children from purchasing cigarettes. It is a difficult balance and part of my argument is that I do not think that it is right on this occasion. We are in danger of coming to a poor compromise rather than a good balance. Vending machines are designed for convenience so that people are able to purchase goods, quite often without supervision—indeed, for some of the goods they purchase in this way, they may not wish to be supervised. It would be easy to think that they would be ideal for children to use if they wanted to purchase cigarettes without being seen by those supervising them. The figures show that that view is right. One per cent of the tobacco market comes through vending machines, so it is a small but material amount. A 2007 survey showed that 17 per cent of children between the ages of 11 and 15 used vending machines as their usual source of supply. That translates to one in six children, and thus 46,000 children between the ages of 11 and 15.