Clause 1 - Smoke-free premises, places and vehicles
Health Bill
10:45 am
Andrew Lansley (Shadow Secretary of State for Health, Health; South Cambridgeshire, Conservative)
I was not trying to represent the whole of those consultation responses, to which we will return when we discuss other issues. Clearly, we have to strike a balance. I am not saying that the results of the consultation must be the only basis on which we make our judgments; I am asking on what basis the Government entered into the consultation. It is obviously intended to inform what we do, and I shall have to make my judgments, as the hon. Member for Northavon will have to make his, and as the Minister will have to do for the Government. I want to know why the Government proceeded with the consultation, given the broad opposition to the structure of the partial ban that they propose. If the consultation was real, what have the Government done to reflect the responses in their policy?
I shall now discuss the structure of the benefits associated with the legislation as set out in the regulatory impact assessment. The Minister will recall that the RIA considered what benefits are likely to accrue from the partial ban that is being proposed. I am sure she will say that the ban will cover 99 per cent. of workplaces, the implication being that 99 per cent. of the benefit will be derived because 99 per cent. of workplaces are covered. What she does not take into account is the simple fact that more than one in two workplaces is already smoke-free, and that a higher proportion of the rest have designated smoking-only areas, the number of which is declining dramatically. Members of the Committee will know that more employers are coming to the conclusion every day that they should move to a work-free—[Laughter.]—a smoke-free workplace for health and safety reasons and because of their responsibilities towards their employees.
Many of the benefits that would be derived from workplaces becoming smoke-free are already being gained, so the question is what additional benefits are to be gained by introducing a smoking ban. The RIA highlights that fact, drawing the broad conclusion that a comprehensive ban would have the benefit of reducing the number of deaths by about 2,300, by my reckoning, as a result of the reduction in second-hand smoke. The partial ban would lead to a benefit that is only just over half that figure, not a figure that is only 1 per cent. away from the benefit of a full ban. Ministers must therefore tell us why they believe that we should engage in this major, complicated regulatory exercise. The costs of enforcing a partial smoking ban are higher than the costs of enforcing a comprehensive smoking ban, yet the Government propose to derive only half the benefit.