Memorandum by Smoking Control Network
(WP 36)
THE SMOKING
CONTROL NETWORK
The Smoking Control Network is a collaboration
of leading British health charities and commercial and professional
organisations, which work together to reduce the deaths and disability
caused by smoking related diseases.
The Smoking Control Network's voluntary and
professional members comprise: Asthma UK, British Heart Foundation,
British Lung Foundation, British Vascular Foundation, Cancer Research
UK, Diabetes UK, QUIT, the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation,
The Stroke Association, Royal College of Midwives, Royal College
of Nursing and No Smoking Day. ASH is an observer. The administration
of the Network is supported by an educational grant from GlaxoSmithKline
Consumer Healthcare.
Will the Proposals enable the Government to achieve
its Public Health Goals?
1. The Smoking Control Network warmly welcomes
the Public Health White Paper's proposals for tobacco control.
In particular, we welcome the Government's intentions contained
in paragraph 76 that "All enclosed public places and workplaces
. . . will be smoke free".
2. We regret, however, that the Government
then undermines this principle with exemptions for licensed premises
which do not prepare or serve food and private members' clubs.
Are the proposals appropriate, will they be effective
and do they represent value for money?
3. The report from the Government's own
Scientific Committee on Tobacco & Health (SCOTH), published
with the White Paper, concluded that:
"knowledge of the hazardous nature of
secondhand smoke (SHS) has consolidated over the last five years,
and this evidence strengthens earlier estimates of the size of
the health risks. This is a controllable and preventable form
of indoor air pollution. It is evident that no infant, child or
adult should be exposed to SHS. This update confirms that SHS
represent a substantial public health hazard."
4. In the light of the above conclusion,
we ask the Committee to press the Health Secretary to explain:
5. Why it is acceptable to expose any worker
anywhere—including in a bar or club—whether or not
it serves food—to the health risks from secondhand smoke?
6. What definitions will the Government
propose to distinguish between "pubs and bars preparing and
serving food"—which will be smoke-free—and those
which do not?
7. How will this distinction be measured
and what procedures will be needed to implement this exemption
and at what cost?
8. What will be the impact of such a discrepancy
of provision on health inequalities—when it is likely that
the majority of non-food pubs will be located in some of the most
disadvantaged wards in the country?
9. How can the Government claim that "smoking
in the bar area is prohibited everywhere", when it is an
established fact that smoke drifts between smoking and non-smoking
areas and even the best ventilation systems do not protect non-smokers
from the health risks of other people's smoke?
Public Health Infrastructure for the Proposals
to be implemented and goals achieved
10. Why are the Government's proposals for
England so modest, compared to the more comprehensive protection
from secondhand smoke for workers being offered in Scotland and
which the Government appears to be allowing for Wales and Northern
Ireland?
11. The Smoking Control Network congratulates
the Scottish Executive on the proposals for smokefree workplaces
contained in its Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Bill
and looks forward to its enactment and implementation by 2006.
12. The Network is backing Julie Morgan
MP's Smoking in Public Places (Wales) Bill to enable the National
Assembly for Wales to prohibit or restrict the smoking of tobacco
products by any person in a public place in Wales.
13. Network Members also support the Private
Bills being brought by Liverpool and London. We look forward to
a constructive debate at Second Reading in the House of Lords
of the Liverpool City Council (Prohibition of Smoking in Places
of Work) Bill and the London Local Authorities (Prohibition of
Smoking in Places of Work) Bill. We urge the Government not to
hinder the progression of these Bills through to full scrutiny
at Committee stage.
14. The Smoking Control Network regrets
that the Government has not had the confidence to propose a comprehensive
ban on all smoking in the workplace, as has been introduced with
such success in Ireland.
Recommendations for Action:
15. The Smoking Control Network urges the
Government to reconsider its plans and to make a commitment in
the first Queen's Speech after the anticipated General Election
to legislate to prohibit smoking in all enclosed workplaces.
January 2005
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