Lord Falconer of Thoroton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 2015-11-30.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what were the monthly sales figures for (1) e-cigarettes, and (2) tobacco products, in prison shops in the past year.
Lord Faulks
For prisons in England and Wales monthly sales (number of units sold[1]) for the period December 2014 to November 2015 were as follows:
|
TOBACCO & CIGARETTES |
SUNDRIES[2] |
E CIGARETTE |
|
|
DECEMBER 2014 |
318,300 |
252,500 |
310 |
|
JANUARY 2015 |
352,500 |
284,200 |
140 |
|
FEBURARY 2015 |
283,600 |
228,300 |
80 |
|
MARCH 2015 |
291,700 |
228,400 |
20 |
|
APRIL 2015 |
344,100 |
282,500 |
40 |
|
MAY 2015 |
290,800 |
230,100 |
60 |
|
JUNE 2015 |
286,000 |
216,000 |
60 |
|
JULY 2015 |
350,400 |
268,400 |
40 |
|
AUGUST 2015 |
286,900 |
220,400 |
6,500 |
|
SEPTEMBER 2015 |
280,200 |
219,100 |
5,600 |
|
OCTOBER 2015 |
344,200 |
268,700 |
3,000 |
|
NOVEMBER 2015 |
278,400 |
220,200 |
1,500 |
It should be noted that some of the variation in monthly sales is due to months having four weekly accounting periods and other months having five.
From December 2014 to mid-August 2015 e-cigarettes were only available in prisons in Wales plus the three Public Sector Prison establishments in England, (Eastwood Park, Stocken, and Preston) hence the relatively low sales. From 17 August 2015 all public sector establishments offered an e-cigarette on their Local Product List (prison shop form). The decrease in e-cigarette sales since August is thought to be due to an initial peak in sales when these products were first introduced.
[1] Rounded to the nearest 100, or nearest 10 when sales are less than 1,000.
[2] Sundries include, for example, rolling papers, lighters, matches, filter tips and rolling machines.
