Toby Perkins: My mother smoked herself to death and died of lung cancer at the age of 62, so no one needs to tell me how important it is that we do all we can to support people to give up smoking. I also know people who have given up smoking through e-cigarettes but now find that they smoke quite a lot more than they did with traditional cigarettes. What analysis has been done of the impact on overall...
Toby Perkins: ...have less money in their pockets; and the fact that supermarkets now see alcohol sales as a central driver in getting people through their door. That has had a huge impact on the pub industry. The smoking ban has also had an impact on a certain kind of pub. A whole variety of different measures and things that have happened have been the cause of a number of the pressures on the industry....
Toby Perkins: The clause amends part 3 of the Clean Air Act 1993, which relates to smoke control areas. It requires the Secretary of State to publish a list of authorised fuels and exempted fireplaces that can be used in smoke control areas. Currently, that is done through regulations that are updated every six months. The clause removes the need to issue regulations, replacing them with the online list....
Toby Perkins: ...additional measures to protect them. Numbers of fires have reduced in recent years due to their tremendously proactive approach to fire prevention, made possible by their outreach work fitting smoke detectors and educating citizens. However, Derbyshire faces an unusually high level of fire deaths compared with other counties. In 2012-13, 10 people were killed in fires in Derbyshire—one...
Toby Perkins: ...is protecting front-line services? This plan does not just mean millions being spent upfront on the basis of future savings; it does not just mean the millions spent a few years ago going up in smoke; it does not just mean dedicated firefighters being thrown out of work; it does not just mean years of experience lost and thousands spent in recruitment costs; it means people in Derbyshire...
Toby Perkins: ...000 a year. That is shocking to many people who know the huge hours that many publicans put in. I have already mentioned some challenges facing the industry, and although the health benefits of the smoking ban are widely accepted, we must recognise that it had an impact on many pubs. We have seen aggressive pricing from supermarkets as the off-trade increased its market share. As if that...