§ Mr. Cartwrightasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will conduct a survey as to the extent to which retailers are complying with the law forbidding the sale of tobacco to children under the age of 16 years; and if he will take steps to make the legal requirements better known in the interests of health.
§ Sir George YoungA survey of 50 tobacconists in Scotland was carried out recently for the Scottish Committee of Action on Smoking and Health by the Opinion Research Centre: 43 of these tobacconists sold cigarettes to a child who was manifestly under the age of 16. Under the voluntary agreement with the tobacco industry announced on 21 November 1980, the industry444W will be supplying the retail trade with material on the law regarding sales of cigarettes to children and inviting the retail trade to display such notices.
I am keeping in close touch with the arrangements which the industry is making and shall be interested to see what effect the display of the notices has.