Smoking banned in most pubs
Smoking WILL be banned in all pubs in England preparing or serving food, under new plans unveiled today by health secretary John Reid.
But the industry has been given four years to prepare for the proposed laws, with arrangements for licensed premises to be in place by the end of 2008.
The proposed regulations are as follows:
- all restaurants are to be smoke-free
- all pubs ands bars preparing and serving food will be smoke-free
- other pubs and bars will be free to choose whether to allow smoking or to be smoke-free
- in membership clubs the members will be free to choose whether to allow smoking or to be smoke-free
- smoking at the bar will be banned everywhere.
The government said it was "shifting the balance significantly in favour of smoke-free environments" with the policy, which is a cornerstone of its White Paper on public health.
A period of consultion on the proposals begins today.
The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) said a smoking ban based on food seemed "designed to drive pubs back to the days when they were drinking dens".
"In large numbers of pubs where food is a nice to have rather than a must have, this ban is the perfect incentive to take food out in order to avoid the inevitable commercial damage caused by a smoking ban", says Mark Hastings, Director of Communications of the BBPA.
"With concern about binge drinking at its height it seems an extraordinary contradiction to introduce a policy designed to drive us to drink".
Related articles:
Fury over smoking decision (16 November 2004)
ALMR: pubs facing hard decision (16 November 2004)
