What is the Tobacco and Vapes Bill 2025?

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill 2025 (the Bill) seeks to marry two ambitions: abolish tobacco for future generations and create a licensing framework for its sale that mirrors that which governs alcohol. The final draft of the legislation has been delayed due to more scrutiny of the provisions in the House of Lords.

In the first of a two-part series, our licensing partner Gareth Hughes outlines the Bill’s framework, including licensing provisions and restrictions.

The Bill’s framework

Clause 16(4) of the Bill empowers the Secretary of State to create a licensing scheme for anyone who sells tobacco or vape products. There is no substantive provision in the Bill for how such a scheme will work; instead, it is left to future secondary legislation.

Businesses are being asked to prepare for a regime whose boundaries are not yet known. The direction of travel is clear: a national licensing scheme that will apply to any person or business selling tobacco or vape products by retail or wholesale, including online.

Unlike the Licensing Act 2003, which embedded clear principles, consultation rights, and appeal mechanisms in primary legislation, the Bill currently contains no such protections. There is, for instance, no indication of:

• The eligibility criteria for applicants;
• Whether licences will be time-limited or subject to annual renewal;
• How revocation decisions will be made or challenged.

Compliance obligations and anticipated conditions

The Bill does not yet specify the content of licence conditions. Drawing on licensing practices in alcohol, gambling, and food retail, we can reasonably expect obligations such as:

• Display of the licence at the point of sale;
• Staff training on age verification;
• Record-keeping of refusals and incidents;
• Restrictions on advertising or product placement;
• Possibly, operational restrictions (e.g. hours of sale or product types).

The nature and enforceability of such conditions will depend on the forthcoming regulations. If the Home Office or the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) allows for local discretion, we may see a patchwork of requirements — with some authorities treating vape sales as akin to off-licences, and others applying a more permissive approach.

Who will be affected?

The scope of the proposed regime is broad and commercial. It will apply not only to high-street tobacconists and vape shops but to:

• Supermarkets and convenience stores;
• Petrol stations and corner shops;
• Hotel minibars and gift stores;
• Hospitality venues offering cigars, shisha or similar products;
• Online sellers who deliver nicotine products to consumers in the UK.

According to the Office for National Statistics and trade bodies:

• There are over 46,000 convenience stores in the UK;
• Around 8,000 supermarkets across major chains;
• Thousands more hospitality venues and online retailers also supply these products.

In England and Wales, the licensing authority will face tens of thousands of applications within a short period of time. The burden on local authorities, particularly those already struggling with stretched trading standards departments, may be substantial. The logistical complexity of administering a national licence rollout, verifying identity and suitability, and managing conditions or renewals, should not be underestimated.

Enforcement powers

The key enforcement powers include:

• Restricted Premises Orders (Clause 23), available upon conviction for repeated sales to underage persons. These prohibit the sale of tobacco products from a named premises.
• Restricted Sale Orders (Clause 28), which prohibit an individual from selling tobacco or vape products, whether at the premises or elsewhere.

Both orders require an application to a magistrates’ court and can last for up to one year. They are targeted at persistent offenders and do not offer a fast-track mechanism for regulators to impose temporary suspensions or emergency bans.

Currently, there is no power under the Bill for a local authority to prohibit sales summarily — a significant distinction from licensing regimes under the Licensing Act 2003 or public health emergency laws.

The generational smoking ban

The Department of Health and Social Care consulted publicly on the generational smoking ban (Clause 1) in 2023–24, but there has been no formal consultation on the licensing regime itself.

The Bill introduces a lifetime sales ban applicable only to those born from 1 January 2009 onwards.

The consequences

In practical terms, it is likely to:

• Lead to the creation of tens of thousands of licence holders, from supermarkets to vape kiosks;
• Drive up compliance costs, especially for independent retailers who may need to invest in training, record-keeping systems, and signage;
• Increase local authority workload, particularly during the first wave of applications and enforcement.

The unintended consequences may prove equally important. Smaller businesses, facing uncertain application processes and escalating obligations, may choose to exit the sector entirely, consolidating the market in the hands of major retailers and online platforms. There is also a risk of geographic inconsistency: more affluent boroughs with well-staffed licensing teams may process and enforce fairly, while under-resourced areas may fall behind — creating both real and perceived enforcement inequality.

Another risk is regulatory drift. Once a licensing regime is in place, it becomes tempting to expand, to include new product categories, restrict advertising or flavourings, or impose additional operational conditions, all through ministerial regulation. What begins as a licensing scheme for tobacco may soon become a broader regime of behavioural control, using commercial licences as its lever.

Finally, until the regulations are published, businesses are flying blind. And unless those regulations include robust safeguards — consultation rights, clear criteria, and appeal processes — the result may be arbitrary enforcement and protracted litigation.

If you have questions or concerns about the Tobacco and Vapes Bill 2025, please contact Gareth Hughes.

The full article was published on The Licensing Experts, read it here.