Smoking ban in England

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A smoking ban in England, making it illegal to smoke in all enclosed public places and enclosed work places in England, came into force on 1 July 2007. Similar bans had already been introduced by the rest of the United Kingdom — Scotland on 26 March 2006, Wales on 2 April 2007 and Northern Ireland on 30 April 2007.

1 Passage of the law
- 1.1 Problem with the signs
2 Exemptions to the law
3 Policing of the ban
4 Opposition to the ban
5 Notes
6 See also
7 External links
8 Video clips

[edit] Passage of the law

On 16 November 2004 a Public Health white paper proposed a smoking ban in almost all public places in England. Smoking restrictions would be phased in, with a ban on smoking in NHS and government buildings by 2006, in enclosed public places by 2007, and pubs, bars and restaurants (except pubs not serving food) by the end of 2008.^[1]

On 26 October 2005, after days of opposition and debates within the Cabinet, the government announced that it would continue with its plans. All workplaces, including restaurants and pubs selling food, will have to have a ban in place by summer 2007^[2] However, there was wide criticism from all sides of the argument on this, with even many MPs threatening to try to overturn the bill. Many representatives of the licensed trade told the government only a total ban will work, and over 90 MPs signed a motion demanding a total ban, with over 100 signing for a free vote on the issue. It was reported on 24 November that chief medical officer Liam Donaldson nearly quit over the partial ban, but decided to stay to champion a total ban. On the same day, the government released the results of the public consultation, after Cancer Research UK demanded them under the Freedom of Information Act, which revealed that nearly 9 out of 10 respondents wanted a total ban, resulting in further embarrassment to the government.^[3]

On 11 January 2006, the government further announced that it would give MPs a free vote on an amendment to the Health Bill, submitted by the health select committee, to instigate a total ban on public smoking. Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt voted in favour of the amendment and, in so doing, voted against her own department's policy. All other parties had offered free votes on the issue which was debated on 14 February, with 3 options - the present compromise, a total ban, or an exemption for members clubs only.

On 14 February 2006, the House of Commons first voted on the amendment to the original compromise plan, to extend the ban to all enclosed public places except private members' clubs. The amendment was carried with a large majority. MPs then voted on a further amendment to ban smoking in all enclosed public places including private members' clubs. Again this amendment gained significant support and was carried with a large majority. This therefore replaced the earlier successful amendment which would have allowed smoking only in private members' clubs. The legislation was passed by the House of Lords allowing a total smoking ban in enclosed public places to come into force in England.

On 7 June 2007, the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee accused the government of overreacting to the threat posed by passive smoking and said that the smoking ban was symptomatic of MPs' failure to understand risk.^[4]

The smoking ban came into force on 1 July 2007, as stated on the 30 November 2006 by former Secretary of State for Health Patricia Hewitt, who called it "a huge step forward for public health".^[5]

[edit] Problem with the signs

On the 10 August 2007, Network Europe and Deutsche Welle's Carol Allen has said that the no smoking sign is grammatically incorrect as it should say “It is against the law to smoke on these premises”, not “It is against the law to smoke in these premises”. It has also led to an increase in "smirting", flirting with someone while they are out for a cigarette.^[6]

[edit] Exemptions to the law

While the ban affects almost all public indoor spaces and places of work,^[7] some places are excluded from the ban, such as:

bus shelters (provided they are less than 50% covered, some councils however include all in the ban),
phone boxes (but box types K2 to K8 are included in the ban, because they are completely sealed)
hotel rooms (if they are designated as smoking rooms)
nursing homes
prisons
offshore oil rigs (only in designated rooms)
psychiatric wards (until 1 July 2008)
stages/television sets (if needed for the performance, except in rehearsals).^[8]

Smoking is also permitted in the Palace of Westminster,^[9] as it is for other palaces, although members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords agreed to observe the ban and ban all smoking in the palace except for four designated outside areas.^[10]

Smoking is allowed in a private house, but one must not smoke in areas that one works in, or in "public" areas such as shared corridors.

Although prisons and hotel rooms are exempt, university halls of residence pose a dilemma for defining what is public and private. Some universities have imposed a blanket ban including halls of residence and some have not.^[11]

[edit] Policing of the ban

Visual monitoring of people smoking in pubs and workplace toilets is difficult on a continuous timescale, as a check every hour leaves most of that hour unchecked. The main deterrent against covert smokers (deliberately) taking no notice of the law will be smoke detectors placed strategically on the ceiling of premises, which are difficult to fool. Whilst this is likely to be accepted in places such as pubs, more determined measures are being proposed to put smoke detectors in company vehicles, which have not the same degree of "public" space.^{[citation needed]}

There have been several incidents of violence perpetrated by people refusing to obey the smoking regulations. In one incident, a former heavyweight boxer, James Oyebola, was shot in the head after he asked a customer at a nightclub to stop smoking.^[12] He later died of his injuries.^[13] and police launched a murder enquiry.

[edit] Opposition to the ban

A group, calling themselves "Freedom To Choose", launched a campaign for a judicial review of the smoking ban.^[14] They claimed that the law is in breach of the Human Rights Act 1998, as it does not respect the right to privacy of people who wish to smoke in pubs and social clubs.^[15] Supporters of the ban put forward counter-arguments, which state that the "rights" of smokers to indulge in their pastime cease as soon as it negatively affects other people in the vicinity.^[16]

The group have now withdrawn their Judicial Review application and are no longer pursuing it