[Mr. Eric Illsley in the Chair]
Health Bill
12:15 pm
Caroline Flint (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department of Health; Don Valley, Labour)
We have had an interesting debate. There are some issues on which the Committee would like more information, which I shall endeavour to provide. The hon. Member for Westbury spoke about his pleasure cruise. In such a situation, the rules would apply in the same way as with the hire of a private vehicle. If the hon. Gentleman hired a vehicle for private use by his family and did not engage an employee to drive the vehicle, a similar provision to what we discussed in relation to the hospitality industry and hotel rooms and cottages would apply. We are specifically considering public transport and vehicles used for businesses. We believe that the same parameters for the ban on smoking in workplaces should apply to workplaces that happen to be a moving vehicle.
I acknowledge what the hon. Gentleman said about our work with the Ministry of Defence. On his point about the difficulty for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence, we should not lose sight of the fact that my right hon. Friends the Defence Secretary and the Health Secretary have both worked to introduce legislation to ban smoking for the first time in a variety of public and work spaces. In his previous role as Health Secretary, my right hon. Friend the Defence Secretary was the instrument behind the “Choosing Health” White Paper, and therefore set in motion the process that brought us to where we are today. We are saying for the first time that voluntary regulation is not enough and that we need legislation to restrict smoking. I do not think that anyone can take that away from him.