The Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 (Commencement No. 1, Transitional and Saving Provisions) (Scotland) Regulations 2026 - Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment

Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment Template

1. Brief Summary

Type of proposal (Please delete as necessary):

• Scottish Statutory Instrument

Name the proposal, and describe its overall aims and intended purpose.

The UK Tobacco and Vapes Act (2026) (“the 2026 Act”) aims to prevent children and young people becoming addicted to tobacco and nicotine. In Scotland, it will do this through:

• creating a smoke-free generation, gradually ending the sale of tobacco products across the country and breaking the cycle of addiction and disadvantage;
• introducing age of sale restrictions for nicotine products and herbal smoking products;
• strengthening existing powers to ban smoking in public places to reduce harms of passive smoking, particularly around children and vulnerable people;
• banning vapes and nicotine products from being deliberately promoted and advertised to children to stop the next generation from becoming hooked on nicotine;
• extending the retail registration scheme in Scotland to cover nicotine products and herbal smoking products.

To do this, the 2026 Act builds on, amends and extends several existing tobacco and vaping control measures across the UK, including most notably for Scotland, the Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2010 (the 2010 Act).

In consequence, The Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 (Consequential Amendments, Transitional and Saving Provisions) (Scotland) Regulations 2026 are needed to update existing secondary legislation to reflect these changes.

The Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 (Consequential Amendments, Transitional and Saving Provisions) (Scotland) Regulations 2026

These Regulations make the following amendments in consequence of provision made by the 2026 Act.

• The 2026 Act changes the age of sale offence for tobacco to make it an offence to sell to persons born after 1 Jan 2009 from 1 Jan 2027. The Sale of Tobacco (Prescribed Documents) (Scotland) Regulations 2013 will be amended to reflect this new offence.
• The 2026 Act makes provision to change the definition of “nicotine vapour product” relied upon in the 2010 Act to “vaping product” – aligning the definition in Scottish legislation with the definition to be used elsewhere in UK. There are a number of instruments which currently use the term “nicotine vapour product” – those will be amended to ensure that the new term “vaping product” is used in secondary legislation.
• The 2026 Act amends existing offences in the 2010 Act which apply to tobacco products and vaping products, extending them to herbal smoking products and nicotine products. There are SSIs made using powers in the 2010 Act which underpin some of those offences (for example, the SSIs which prescribe documents for the purpose of ID verification) which will be amended to reflect the changes to the core offences, ensuring that all of the relevant products are covered in the relevant secondary legislation.
• The 2026 Act repeals the offence of purchasing tobacco products by people under 18 and these regulations make amendments to the Sale of Tobacco (Registration of Moveable Structures and Fixed Penalty Notices (Scotland) Regulations 2011 in consequence of the repeal of sections 5 and 7 of the 2010 Act and ensure that there are no longer prescribed fixed penalties for the repealed offences.
• The 2026 Act adds nicotine product retailers and herbal smoking product retailers to the Register provisions in Part 2 of the 2010 Act. This means that secondary legislation underpinning the Register provisions will need amended to reflect these changes when they are commenced by the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 (Commencement No. 1, Transitional and Saving Provisions) (Scotland) Regulations 2026.

The following regulations will therefore be amended to reflect these changes:

• The Prisons and Young Offenders Institutions (Scotland) Rules 2011
• The Sale of Tobacco (Prescribed Documents) (Scotland) Regulations 2013
• The Sale of Nicotine Vapour Products (Prescribed Documents) (Scotland) Regulations 2017
• The Sale of Tobacco and Nicotine Vapour Products by Persons Under 18 (Scotland) Regulations 2017
• The Sale of Tobacco (Registration of Moveable Structures and Fixed Penalty Notices) (Scotland) Regulations 2011
• The Sale of Tobacco (Register of Tobacco Retailers) Regulations 2010

Impact on Children and Young People

Although technical and consequential in nature, these Regulations are particularly relevant to children and young people. Whilst under 18s were unable to purchase tobacco prior to the 2026 Act, the 2026 Act will create a smoke-free generation, gradually ending the sale of tobacco products across the country and breaking the cycle of addiction and disadvantage. The 2026 Act will reduce early exposure to harmful substances, including nicotine products and herbal smoking products.

Herbal smoking products have been added to the smoke-free generation policy and other measures as they contain cancer causing chemicals, tar and carbon monoxide, similar to a tobacco cigarette. Cigarette papers have also been included as they are burnt with the tobacco.

The 2026 Act repeals the criminal offence of purchasing tobacco products by under 18s, meaning that children will no longer be at risk of committing criminal offences.

Commencing the extension of the retailer register to cover nicotine products and herbal smoking products will support the enforcement of unscrupulous sellers of these products to children.

The purpose of the 2026 Act is to stop children from starting to smoke and to prevent the next generation becoming addicted to nicotine through restrictions on nicotine products, and the provisions contained within this legislation, while technical and consequential in nature, have been designed to support a package of activity to create a tobacco-free Scotland by 2034 and reduce nicotine addiction, as set out in the Tobacco and Vapes Framework and the Population Health Framework. These regulations contain consequential provisions which are required to ensure that key provisions within the 2026 Act can have full effect.

The 2026 Act and supporting secondary legislation is a critical component in creating a smoke-free Scotland and is part of a wider 4-nation approach to create a smoke-free UK, supporting young people to make informed choices about ways to quit smoking and also educating children, young people and adult non-smokers about the risks associated with vaping.

Start date of proposal’s development:

Tobacco and Vaping Framework^[1] published November 2023

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill Consultation^[2] published 12 October 2023

Start date of CRWIA process:

October 2024

2. With reference given to the requirements of the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024, which aspects of the proposal are relevant to/impact upon children’s rights?

This legislation, which is required in consequence of key provisions in the 2026 Act, relates to the following UNCRC articles:

Article 3 states that “the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration” in any actions concerning children, including policy making. This best interest principle has informed the approach to these regulations given the focus of enabling the effective and consistent operation of the 2026 Act provisions which are in turn focussed on creating a smoke-free generation, limiting children’s access and exposure to health-harming products and removing the risk of criminal liability for children. The 2026 Act repeals the existing offence of purchasing tobacco products by people under the age of 18.

Article 6 on the right to life states that parties shall ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of the child. Preventing children from having access to nicotine and herbal smoking products and phasing out the use of tobacco products and herbal smoking products altogether ensures that children are able to survive and develop fully and this legislation supports the effective operation of some of the key provisions in the 2026 Act.

Article 12 of the UNCRC provides that children have the right to express a view in relation to decisions that affect them, and for their views to be given due weight in accordance with their age and maturity. The views of children have been actively sought in the development of our policies on tobacco control.

Article 24 states that children have the right to the best standard of health. Preventing children from having access to nicotine and herbal smoking products means children are less likely to be exposed to the health harms caused by these products. This legislation supports the effective operation of key provisions in the 2026 Act which are designed to prevent children from accessing these products.

Article 33 states that children need to be protected from the illegal use of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. Nicotine is a highly addictive psychotropic substance, and being prevented from buying products containing this substance will mean children are protected from the harms caused by nicotine and addiction. This legislation supports the effective operation of key provisions in the 2026 Act which are designed to prevent children from accessing nicotine products.

3. Please provide a summary of the evidence gathered which will be used to inform your decision-making and the content of the proposal

Consultation

There was no requirement for consultation on the consequential amendments that this CRWIA relates to, as the amendments are technical and are required in order to ensure that the substantive changes taken forward by the 2026 Act operate effectively by ensuring that relevant secondary legislation covers all relevant products which are covered in the 2026 Act and ensuring consistent alignment of definitions in secondary legislation.

A UK wide consultation on ‘Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping’ was carried out from 12 October to 6 December 2023. The consultation sought views on the proposals to raise the age of sale of tobacco products, measures to tackle youth vaping, and ensure appropriate enforcement of the new rules. The full consultation response Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping^[3] is published on the UK Government website.

The consultation received nearly 28,000 responses, 248 of which were from children and young people aged 13-17. There was a strong response to the consultation from Scotland, which represented 11.4% of the 27,921 responses received:

• 65.5% of respondents in Scotland agreed that the age of sale for tobacco products should be changed so that anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 will never be legally sold tobacco products (62.5% UK Wide).
• 65.6% of respondents in Scotland agreed that all tobacco products, cigarette papers and herbal smoking products should be covered in the new legislation (63.1% UK Wide)
• 55.6% of respondents in Scotland agreed that the UK Government and devolved administrations should regulate consumer nicotine products, such as nicotine pouches, under a similar regulatory framework as nicotine vapes. (51.9% UK wide).

Impact Assessment and Summary of Evidence

Prevention of harm is a key feature of the 2026 Act. The rationale for Government intervention and supporting evidence regarding harm prevention is detailed in the UK Government Bill Impact Assessment^[4].

Key statistics relevant to Scotland

In order to ensure we considered the views of young people in our policy development on tobacco, vaping and nicotine products, from 2024 onwards, the Scottish Government commissioned a booster sample to the ASH SmokeFree GB Youth survey 2025^[5] to enable Scotland-only analysis.

Until 2023, the Scottish sample consisted of approximately 200 young people, but in 2025, the Scottish sample comprised 856 adolescents. This supports the monitoring and reporting of progress against the objectives outlined in the Tobacco and Vaping Framework^[6].

Key findings from the survey in 2025 included:

• Most adolescents reported trying their first vape between the ages of 13 and 15, while first use of a cigarette was most commonly reported between the ages of 12 and 14.
• 4.8% of Scottish adolescents aged 11-17 identified as current smokers. 18.1% of all respondents said that they had tried smoking.
• Among all 11–17-year-olds, about two fifths had heard of other nicotine products such as nicotine pouches (40.2%) and shisha (45.5%).
• Ever use of vapes was more common among girls than boys (24.2% vs 15.0%).
• A small percentage (3%) of all those aged 11-17 reported ever use of nicotine pouches.
• Vaping prevalence among those aged 11-17 was 7.3%. 19.5% of respondents said they had tried vaping.
• The majority of adolescents supported policy measures aimed at reducing vaping: 79.0% supported a ban of advertising and promotion of vapes at point of sale (at the till, in store and as people enter shops); 78.2% a ban of bright colours, cartoon characters and names of sweets on vape packaging; and 69.6% restrictions on how flavours can be described.
• 70% of adolescents supported legislation to progressively raise the age of sale for tobacco.

Engagement with Children’s Parliament

There has also been strong collaboration between the Children’s Parliament and the policy team in the development of our wider policy on tobacco and nicotine products. The Children’s Parliament have met with policy officials and Ministers on a number of occasions to provide their views in this policy area.

Engagement included Members of the Children’s Parliament (MCPs) outlining their calls to action and the policy team sharing information about the 2026 Act during its development as a Bill. Further engagement involved the policy team presenting to the MCPs how their ideas were represented in the Bill. The MCPs reported a feeling of being listened to and were pleased with the content of the Bill.

The Scottish Government has also previously funded a consultation carried out by the Children’s Parliament^[7] on tobacco and smoking which has informed our approach to policy development in this area. The consultation provided qualitative insights into how legislation can support our aim of a Tobacco-free Scotland, including some of the key provisions of the 2026 Act.

Age of sale was discussed, with children stating:

• “I think you should be 30 before you can smoke, at 18 your body is not ready”.
• “Keep raising the smoking age little by little.”

Children also shared views on the physical and mental impacts of smoking:

• “Smoking is like suffocating your body”
• “Tobacco can cause lung cancer and infections. I wouldn’t recommend it.”

There was also an awareness of the types of businesses which sell tobacco products, with children remarking on how easy it is to find and buy products – which supports our approach to expanding the register and applying this to a wider range of products.

• “Some shopkeepers sell to young people to get money”.

Whilst the overall policy option within the 2026 Act to progressively increase the age of sale for tobacco has not yet been implemented anywhere else in the world, the UK Government has included modelling and evidence within its Impact Assessment^[8] to support the introduction of the policy [p27].

In addition, as part of the 2024 Public Health Scotland scoping review of age-restriction interventions for tobacco and nicotine vapour products in children and young people^[9], there is some evidence that raising the legal age of sale for tobacco could be effective at reducing smoking prevalence as well as potentially increase health-adjusted life years and offer cost savings.

4. Further to the evidence described at ‘3’ have you identified any 'gaps' in evidence which may prevent determination of impact? If yes, please provide an explanation of how they will be addressed

There are no gaps in evidence in relation to the Regulations assessed in this CRWIA which are technical consequential amendments required to support the main provisions in the 2026 Act.

5. Analysis of Evidence

Guidance: Please explain what the evidence told you about the impact of the proposal on the rights and wellbeing of children and young people. See pages 19-20 in Internal CRWIA and SoC for more information.

It should be noted that the main impact on children and young people will come directly from the 2026 Act, rather than these Regulations, which are consequential amendments which support key provisions in the 2026 Act.

The intended outcome of the Act is a reduction in the number of people taking up smoking in the short-term and getting smoking prevalence to 5% or less in the long-term. Indicators of success would include a reduction in the number of young people smoking and a reduction in overall smoking prevalence over time.

The intended outcomes of measures relating to nicotine products in the Act are that nicotine products will be less visible, appealing and normalised for children and non-smokers, thus reducing their use and protecting children and non-smokers from the health harms that these products could cause. A key indicator of success will be whether uptake of these products, and prevalence amongst young people, decreases.

As with other measures for vaping and nicotine products in the Act, restrictions will be extended to include herbal smoking products. The aim is to break the cycle of addiction and disadvantage by introducing a smoke-free generation policy. Herbal smoking products have been included due to the harmful nature of smoking.

The UK Impact Assessment^[10] of the 2026 Act sets out predicted impacts of these policies. Whilst not all of these impacts directly relate to children, their wider impacts on society will have a positive indirect impact for children.

The package of policies included in the Act, as consulted on and impact assessed by the UK Government^[11] will work together to protect children and young people from the potential harms of vaping and the risk of nicotine addiction, protecting their health and wellbeing.

Given the statistics set out above on smoking and nicotine use in Scotland from the ASH GB survey, these policies will have a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of children and young people if they are successful in achieving the aim of reducing smoking, vaping and nicotine use prevalence.

Whilst the survey sets out that the sample in the ASH GB survey is not fully representative by social grade or IMD decile, with lower social grades and deciles under-represented, we acknowledge that smoking and nicotine use rates in Scotland are higher in areas of socio-economic disadvantage, so these policies will have a particularly positive impact on this group (Scottish Health Survey).

In addition, the UK Impact Assessment sets out that smoking prevalence in the UK overall is highest among people with a mixed ethnic background (14.8%), so again the most positive impacts will be felt most keenly by children in this group, although benefits will be felt across society.

In addition, the policies take into consideration the views and opinions of children and young people. The policies within the Act, such as raising the age of sale for tobacco and increased enforcement through the expansion of the retailer register, are in line with much of the evidence gathered from engagement with the Children’s Parliament and the views of adolescents surveyed by ASH.

This engagement demonstrates our commitment to meaningful engagement with children and young people on issues that matter most to them, with the aim of improving the development and implementation of policy, legislation and delivery, and in line with Article 12 of the UNCRC. These regulations are an intrinsic part of the implementation process and support the effective operation of key provisions in the 2026 Act.

6. What changes (if any) have been made to the proposal as a result of this assessment?

No changes have been made to these Regulations as a result of this assessment, as they are necessary technical amendments to support the implementation of the 2026 Act and, as such, the impact on children’s rights and wellbeing is anticipated to be positive.

The views of children were included in the development of the 2026 Act, which these regulations support.