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News Update - Smoking in public places 2006/2007
From 26th March 2006 in Scotland and from summer 2007 in England, smoking inside enclosed public spaces** will be illegal. If you, as an employer, do not take reasonable action to prevent anyone smoking in such an enclosed space** you could be liable to a fixed penalty of up to £2500, with additional penalties for the smoker and their manager. With this new legislation in mind, Gala Tent have developed a range of Smoking Shelters to help businesses comply.
United Kingdom Smoking Ban News
After resisting calls to ban smoking in the workplace, instead preferring a voluntary approach from employers, the government has shifted its position. It now favours a ban for almost all enclosed public areas including offices, factories, cafes, restaurants and most pubs in England within a few years. Wales is likely to go down the same route. Scotland plans to have a comprehensive ban on smoking in all enclosed public places in force by the spring of 2006. About 30% of adults under the age of 65 smoke in the UK, according to recent research conducted by Imperial College in London. An estimated 42% of people under the age of 65 are exposed to tobacco smoke at home and 11% at work. The issue of passive smoking has been at the centre of an intense debate between pro and anti-smoking groups, with each side contesting the validity of each other's statistics.
Jersey Smoking Ban News
The States of Jersey have approved plans for a complete ban on smoking in enclosed public workplaces. Jersey’s ban will come into force ahead of similar bans in Wales and England on 2 January 2007. Anyone caught smoking in pubs, clubs and restaurants or businesses failing to enforce the law, could face a fine of up to £5,000. Channel Islands Tobacco Importers Association opposed the decision claiming the ban will cost £44m a year. Guernsey States introduced a similar smoking ban in July.
Wales Smoking Ban News
The Welsh Assembly has been accused of playing a political game by implementing an early smoking ban - with the trade calling for a single date for England and Wales. Welsh First Minister Rhodri Morgan today announced plans for the ban to start on 2 April - before the stub-out in England, which is due next summer, and earlier than expected for Wales. It means Welsh licensees have just six and a half months to prepare for the smoking ban.
Scotland Smoking Ban News
A ban on smoking in public places - including bars and restaurants - has come into effect in Scotland.
It is being hailed as a step forward for health but critics say it will cost jobs and infringe human rights. More than a fifth of smokers questioned in Scotland plan to flout the ban, which came into effect overnight, a poll by BBC Five Live suggests. The impact will be watched closely in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, where bans have also been planned. Last month MPs voted in favour of a total ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces in England, which is due to come into effect in the summer of 2007.
Northern Ireland Smoking Ban news
A smoking ban is to be implemented in all Northern Ireland's workplaces and enclosed public spaces, including pubs, the health minister has said.
A smoking ban is to be implemented in all Northern Ireland's workplaces and enclosed public spaces, including pubs, the health minister has said. Shaun Woodward made the announcement in Belfast following an extensive consultation exercise on the issue. It will be April 2007 before the new legislation comes into effect in Northern Ireland.
Irish Republic Smoking Ban News
The Irish Republic introduced a total ban on smoking in workplaces and public spaces in 2004.
Campaigners welcome smoking ban
Health campaigners have welcomed a vote paving the way for a ban on smoking in all pubs, clubs and restaurants in England from the summer of 2007. Deborah Arnott, of anti-smoking group Ash, said she was "amazed" and "very delighted" by the Commons decision. MPs voted on Tuesday by a margin of 200 votes to impose a ban on smoking in all enclosed public spaces, despite months of wrangling over the issue. Opponents say the ban is an infringement of civil liberties.
Hotel rooms exempt
Labour MPs were given a free vote amid fears they could rebel against plans to exempt private clubs and non-food pubs. The total ban will extend to all enclosed areas except private homes, residential care homes, hospitals, prisons and hotel bedrooms. Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt said the change, which also brings in fines of £2,500 for not stopping people smoking in restricted areas, would "save thousands of people's lives". Cancer Research UK said it was the biggest step forward in public health for half a century while the British Heart Foundation described the decision as "the best possible Valentine's gift from MPs to bar workers". Public health minister Caroline Flint told BBC News: "We have this huge opportunity and we have got to make it work - to encourage more people to give up smoking, but also to create a different culture."
'Street smoking'
Simon Clark, director of smoking support group Forest, conceded that the pro-smoking lobby had "lost the battle but not necessarily the war". "People will continue to smoke and the idea that people are all going to give up smoking simply because they can't smoke in a pub is nonsense," he told BBC News. "One of the problems with the ban when it comes in, will be that people will move into the street, they'll smoke more at home, and it could end up being counter-productive."
About one third of people who smoke more than 20 cigarettes a day will have their first within five minutes of waking
Chris Ogden, director of trade and industry affairs at the Tobacco Manufacturers Association, expressed his "disappointment" at a decision which went against the government's own manifesto commitment. "The fact is that many thousands, millions of adults will choose to smoke on an informed basis and we will continue to serve that market both domestically and globally," he said.
'Undemocratic'
Alan Bowes, executive chairman of London and Edinburgh Swallow Group - one of the UK's biggest hotel and pub groups - vowed to challenge the ban in the courts. He is already set to launch a legal challenge in the Scottish Parliament to the smoking ban in Scotland which is due to come into force on 26 March. Mr Bowes, whose group operates 150 hotels and 700 pubs, said: "We will fight this all the way to Europe as it will affect children because smokers will simply stay at home and light up in front of their kids." A total smoking ban is due to come into force in Northern Ireland in April, next year. The Health Bill gives the Welsh Assembly the right to decide for itself whether to implement a ban it has already twice approved in principle.
Three choices
The Cabinet originally proposed exempting all pubs and clubs which did not serve food, but decided to offer MPs a free vote on a full ban after it became clear that many Labour MPs opposed the official proposal. MPs overwhelmingly voted for a complete ban with Prime Minister Tony Blair and Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt effectively voting against their own policy. Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said ministers had "put forward proposals which their own backbenchers thought were completely unworkable" but he hailed the result as "a very important step". And Liberal Democrat health spokesman Steve Webb hailed the result as "good news for the health and safety of people who work in public places".
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