Independent British Vape Trade Association

IBVTA is the trade organisation for all responsible and ethical independent vape businesses in the UK

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Zero tolerance to underage vaping in Tunbridge Wells – new pilot launches

First LVA pilot, as part of a planned national project, launches in Tunbridge Wells (Kent) on 27th September, bringing together representatives from Kent trading standards, Kent police, Kent community safety and public health as well as the Independent British Vape Trade Association (IBVTA) with an initial focus on targeting illegal underage vape sales.

LVA is a local partnership approach delivering targeted action and engagement to address specific vaping related issues.

The 3-month pilot will deliver a series of activities and interventions, including engagement with all retailers of vapes in Tunbridge Wells, and the wider community to tackle underage access of vapes.

The LVA pilot findings will be subject to a full evaluation and inform the development of the national LVA that will be rolled out in 2025.

Background

Local Vape Action (LVA) is a partnership approach to tackling vaping issues at a local level. It brings together local authority partners as well as the vape sector via the Independent British Vape Trade Association (IBVTA), to identify and target specific areas.

LVA is beginning with a pilot in Tunbridge Wells as identified by local authority partners in Kent. There are more than 80 reported retailers of vapes in the town, therefore, as part of the project retailers will receive visits from trading standards to check that they are meeting their statutory obligations, utilising targeted guidance, which includes age-verification policies, in-store signage and retailer awareness of compliant vape products. This will be followed by subsequent visits as appropriate. Further interventions are planned throughout the campaign. The results of this pilot and other planned pilot phases will inform the ongoing development of a national LVA that is set to launch in 2025, that will provide support to local LVA projects across the UK.

LVA mission

LVA’s primary purpose is to support the development of effective local strategies, ensure that vapes are only used and accessed by adults in local communities, with a particular emphasis on preventing underage vaping and increasing retail compliance.

LVA’s mission is achieved via a partnership approach embracing Education (of all vape retailers), Engagement (of the local community), Enforcement (linked to Challenge 25 policy and preventing proxy purchase) and Evaluation (of LVA projects).

LVA approach

The national LVA that will be formally launched in 2025 will identify local needs, facilitate the assembly of the local LVA partnership, offer start-up funding and expert advice, provides a toolkit of interventions, share best practice gathered across the national LVA network and supply a rigorous evaluation system.

Each local LVA scheme or project will devise an action plan that is uniquely tailored to local needs with the overarching aims of protecting children and young people from accessing vapes and increasing compliance particularly among retailers.

Future work may include working with local public health stakeholders to educate adult smokers, making sure they understand that vaping is very much safer than smoking, and encouraging them to switch completely to vaping as soon as they can

Based around key areas including:

  • Engagement: across relevant stakeholders to develop an aligned approach including trading standards, police, retail representatives, public health, and local authorities
  • Responsible retailing: including a focus on Challenge 25 and promoting it across the community alongside awareness of existing and new regulations, including compliance with waste management regulations
  • Education: to educate and inform target groups.

Commenting on the launch of the LVA pilot, Clair Bell, Kent County Council Cabinet Member for Community and Regulatory Services, said: “Kent Trading Standards has been aware of the growing popularity of disposable vapes and has been working with Kent Public Health to reduce the risk of sales to children in the county and to remove illegal and non-compliant product from our high streets. We welcome the opportunity to work alongside responsible retailers and the Independent British Vape Trade Association (IBVTA) with the introduction of the pilot project ‘Local Vape Action’ in Tunbridge Wells. The LVA project will allow all partners in the sector to come together to increase awareness of legal products and who to sell them to.

“This is a positive additional step to the work we are already doing and will contribute to raising compliance and creating a level playing field. From the work conducted by our Vape Team, we are aware that disposable vapes are sold in a very diverse range of retail premises. This means that for some retailers a disposable vape is the first age related product that they have stocked, this can lead to confusion and mistakes being made. Disposable vapes have also changed dramatically in the last 12 months; it is not as simple as it once was to spot a legal device.   

“The LVA project will enable a complementary approach, combining the trade and regulators to focus on providing a more robust support network to the retail sector, reducing the confusion around products that can be sold, and strengthen the safeguards to ensure children are not sold any device.” 

Councillor Astra Birch, Tunbridge Wells Borough Council Cabinet Member for Housing & Communities, said: “I’m really pleased Tunbridge Wells is at the forefront of this initiative and I’m grateful to Kent County Council for running the pilot in our busy town where there are a lot of outlets selling vapes.

“Aside from the health benefits that will come from a better understanding around the use and sale of vapes, there are huge sustainability issues with single use plastic and the batteries they contain. I hope to see a broader roll-out of the programme following a successful pilot project here in Tunbridge Wells.”

Mike Martin, MP for Tunbridge Wells, said: “I am really pleased to support the launch of the LVA’s pilot to address underage vaping in our community, and I thank everyone involved for their commitment to tackling what is an increasingly prevalent issue in our society.

Bringing together regulators and local authorities, to address this issue head-on, is crucial to ensure retailers are operating responsibly and meeting their legal obligations. It represents a vital step in protecting our young people and fostering a safer, healthier environment for all residents of Tunbridge Wells.

I look forward to seeing the positive impact this pilot will have and hope it sets the standard for similar projects across the country.”

Gillian Golden CEO of the IBVTA, said: “The launch of the Local Vape Action (LVA) pilot in Tunbridge Wells provides an excellent opportunity to bring collective knowledge and expertise together to deliver on a comprehensive programme of action to tackle the well-documented issues that undermine a responsible vape sector. We are therefore delighted to be working with partners from across Kent in delivering this first pilot project and take those learnings forward into the development of the national LVA.”

Notes to editors

  • The pilot project involving local partners from trading standards, police, community safety teams, public health and the Independent British Vape Trade Association (IBVTA) is taking place during autumn 2024. The aim and key focus of the project is to address under-age vape sales through a series of interventions, supported by a communications campaign.
  • For more information on the pilot project please contact info@localvapeaction.co.uk or visit www.localvapeaction.co.uk
  • The IBVTA is the trade organisation for all responsible and ethical independent vape businesses in the UK and exists to give the independent vaping sector a voice with government bodies, regulators and enforcement agencies. The IBVTA represents the UK’s leading vape manufacturers, importers, distributors, and vendors and has no links to the tobacco industry.

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