Clause 3 - Exemptions

Part of Health Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 2:15 pm on 8 December 2005.

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Photo of Caroline Flint Caroline Flint Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health) 2:15, 8 December 2005

At this stage, Labour party policy is to oppose a total ban, but I have seen nothing to suggest that the Conservative party is in favour of one. However, I have seen comments by Conservative Front-Bench spokespersons suggesting that they are in favour of self-regulation for another three years and that they would return to the issue after that and legislate in due course. I am sure that we can check what Hansard says about the different parties’ policies, but that was certainly the message that I got from Conservative Front-Bench spokespersons, and I understand that that was the basis of the party’s policy for the general election.

On the distinction between food and non-food, there was clearly agreement among smokers and non-smokers in attitudinal surveys that, for reasons of comfort and enjoyment, people like to eat in a smoke-free atmosphere, and we felt that we should reflect that in the Bill. Giles Thorley, the chief executive of Punch Taverns, one of the largest operators of public houses in the UK, has said:

“Although we acknowledge that the proposed non-food/food split will present some landlords with difficult decisions, nonetheless we feel that the distinction is relatively straightforward and workable as well as preserving some degree of choice.”

As we have seen, other parts of the pub sector are moving in a direction that they feel is commercially right for them. For example, the J. D. Wetherspoon chain has decided to make all its pubs completely smoke-free ahead of the timetable in the White Paper.