Underage sales of vaping products
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I would be grateful if you would provide the following information held by your trading standards service. The request forms part of a research project on children's access to vaping products in Wales. The same request is being sent to all 22 local authorities in Wales. Definitions * "Vaping product" means any e-cigarette, vape or e-liquid, whether or not it contains nicotine. Where your records distinguish between nicotine-containing and nicotine-free products, please provide figures separately. * "Test purchase attempt" means an attempt by a volunteer aged under 18, under the supervision of your officers, to buy a vaping product. Please include joint operations with the police. * "Illegal vaping product" means a product seized as non-compliant, for example because of tank capacity, nicotine strength or lack of notification, or, from 1 June 2025, because it was a single-use vape. Time period Please provide figures for each financial year from 2021/22 to 2025/26 (1 April 2021 to 31 March 2026). Questions 1. The number of test purchase attempts for vaping products carried out. 2. The number of those test purchase attempts that resulted in a sale. 3. The number of complaints or intelligence reports received about sales of vaping products to people aged under 18. 4. The number of occasions on which illegal vaping products were seized, and the total number of units seized. 5. The number of each of the following enforcement actions taken in relation to sales of vaping products to people under 18: (a) advice or warning letters, (b) fixed penalty notices, (c) simple cautions, (d) prosecutions, (e) restricted premises or restricted sale orders. Format I am not requesting the names of any businesses or individuals. Please provide the figures in a spreadsheet (Excel or CSV) if possible. If your trading standards service is shared with other local authorities, please say so, and provide figures for your authority's area alone where they are held. If test purchasing was paused or significantly reduced during any part of the period, for example because of COVID-19 restrictions or staffing, it would be helpful if you could say when. Where information is not held, please state this for the relevant question and provide the rest. If answering all questions would exceed the cost limit, please prioritise questions 1 and 2, and I would welcome advice under section 16 of the Act on how to refine the request.