Prohibition of the sale and supply of single-use vapes: Fairer Scotland Duty summary - interim

Rural communities

46. A Scottish Government report from 2021 estimated that the minimum cost of living in ‘remote rural’ Scotland is between 15% and 30% higher than urban parts of the UK^[61]. The budgets that households need to achieve a ‘minimum acceptable living standard in remote rural Scotland are typically 10-40 per cent higher than elsewhere in the UK’^[62]. The research suggests that this is on account of significant additional costs, such as food, clothing, household goods and holidays.

47. It is likely, therefore, that households in remote rural Scotland require a higher income to attain the same minimum living standard as those living elsewhere in the UK^[63]. While living in remote rural areas in Scotland incurs additional costs, it is unclear how people living in these areas would be impacted by the proposal. It has not been possible to determine the amount of single-use vapes that are used in these contexts and the socio-economic characteristics of the consumers.

48. Consideration was given to the impact of the proposal to overall availability, particularly to those using vapes as a method of smoking cessation. As all current retailers are anticipated to switch products to reusable alternatives, the availability of vapes for smoking cessation purposes should remain the same. Similarly, the availability of reusable vape products from online retailers is anticipated to remain the same as currently.