EXCLUSIVEEra of 'criminal enterprise' feared by MPs and campaigners ahead of disposable vapes ban - as it emerged only 80 staff have been recruited to enforce it
The 'woefully inadequate' number of new recruits hired to enforce the disposable vapes ban will lead to a 'new era of criminal enterprise', MPs and campaigners have warned.
Only 80 apprentice Trading Standards officers have been employed and a 'pathetic' £10million allocated to police a booming black market economy predicted to be worth billions, with one third of all vapes sold in the UK already being done so illicitly.
The money is less than a third of what analysts said was required to enforce the new laws in England alone, for one year.
Meanwhile, the department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), which has allocated £58 million of its £7.5billion budget to 'climate resilience' and 'net-zero research', does not yet know how much money it will devote to the disposables ban, despite it coming into force on June 1.
A series of FOI requests also showed Health Secretary Wes Streeting's Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) had not yet allocated funds for public awareness campaigns, and would spend just £30,000 of the £10 million allocated for training of the Trading Standard's apprentices, or £375 each.
In addition, only six full time staff from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) will police the manufacturer's product supply chain into the UK market.
Neither the MHRA or Environment Agency said it would be helping enforce the bill on the ground, despite stats showing enforcement agencies are buckling under the strain of a rocketing smuggling chain.
Latest National Trading Standards figures from November reveal authorities confiscated 1.2 million illegal vapes in 2023-2024, marking a 59 per cent increase from the previous year.
The are fears the 'woefully inadequate' number of new recruits hired to enforce the disposable vapes ban will lead to a 'new era of criminal enterprise'
Disposable vapes on sale in a shop on Oxford Street, London, in October, 2024. A ban on disposable vapes comes into force on June 1
Over the last five years, nearly 2.8million illicit devices worth £21 million have been seized.
A huge black market has now formed in Essex, which saw a staggering 14,000 per cent increase in illegal vape seizures between 2023 and 2024, with 333,600 confiscated last year alone.
In London, councils seized 530,498 illegal vapes in 2024, estimated to be worth over £6million, with tens of thousands being snared in raids across the UK each month. Trading Standards in Kent seized 431,005, in Merseyside 29,180 and Wales 30,379.
Critics of the government preparedness for the disposables ban and introduction of the new bill – which will also see a ban on advertising vapes - warned this was only a fraction of the black market.
Many now fear the UK approach will prompt crime levels seen in Australia, where vapes are only available on prescription and biker gangs have taken over the criminal economy, murdering rivals, firebombing shops and terrorising urban areas.
Conservative MP and member of the all-party parliamentary group for responsible vaping Jack Rankin said: 'With no proper resources or plan to monitor the market, underworld operators will move quickly to usher in a new era of criminal enterprise in vaping products.
'Small businesses will already suffer due to a loss in footfall the advertising ban will cause, which in turn will drive more people to source the products from the black market.
The government is prioritising business regulation over business growth, which will lead to increased prices on the shop floor and a Wild West in illegal vaping products.
. Pictured: Pedestrians pass a vape shop in London -- January 29, 2024
Only 80 apprentice Trading Standards officers have been employed and a 'pathetic' £10million allocated to police a booming black market economy
A selection of disposable vapes with bright and colourful packaging are seen in a convenience store in London -- January, 2024
'This always ends in violence, and in Australia we have seen firebomb attacks by gangs on retail businesses that have refused to sell their black market products.'
Research commissioned by the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) last year revealed the government's £10million war chest covers less than a third of the £30.7million required to enforce the new laws in England for year one.
Of the funding it concludes: 'Only £10m is allocated to enforcing the disposable vapes ban and other vaping restrictions, this is equivalent to only £31,000 per year per local authority (LA) which is not enough to enforce ban.
'The UK government need to commit to additional funding beyond what has been promised to ensure trading standards have the proper resourcing to enforce the ban.'
It also estimated £645million would be taken from small businesses due to the disposables ban and insufficient policing.
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will restrict vape flavours, increase taxes on e-cig liquid and implement a blanket ban on advertising.
Separately, DEFRA legislated for the disposables ban under environmental protection regulations, with enforcement led by Trading Standards.
The MHRA will enforce premarket checks and the Environment Agency will handle recycling.
The Advertising Standards Authority will police any unlawful marketing , funded by DHSC, meaning there will be five government departments responsible for implementing the ban.
Campaign group We Vape founder Mark Oates said: 'Many of the new laws will be impossible to enforce because of the woefully inadequate numbers of officers government has put in place to do so, alongside pathetic funding.
Many now fear the UK approach will prompt crime levels seen in Australia, where vapes are only available on prescription. Pictured: A video filmed on the busiest road in Australia, Melbourne's West Gate Freeway, exposed how the median strip has become a graveyard for vapes
'The unregulated, illicit sector undermines the enormous contribution vaping has made in reducing smoking rates and health harms so it is vital criminals are targeted as they carve out and protect their territories.
'Government must increase investment here in enforcement of laws that remove supply, but not demand, or agencies will be overwhelmed by the black market and its associated crimes, as we have seen in Australia.'
The vaping epidemic is increasingly being linked to organised crime, with many products smuggled via the Eurotunnel and Port of Dover.
Worrying figures also indicate a huge surge in illicit tobacco.
Between 2021 and 2024, legal cigarette sales fell by 44.4 per cent and legal hand-rolling tobacco sales dropped by 47.6 per cent, despite only a modest decline in the number of smokers, suggesting a significant shift towards the black market.
Tobacco taxation now means an ounce of a popular brand can be more expensive than an ounce of silver.
At the time of writing, silver is approximately £26 to £26.25 per ounce. Golden Virginia rolling tobacco retails at around £26.30 for a 30g pouch, depending on the retailer.
A national survey in 2024 found that 80 per cent of smokers surveyed had purchased illegal tobacco in the past year, with 1 in 5 smokers exclusively buying branded tobacco products, which have been illegal in the UK since 2016.
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill completed its report stage and third reading in parliament last month and will now be considered in the House of Lords, before it can be granted Royal Ascent.
