A leading peer has called for clarity on the definition of what will constitute an "outside area" when a ban is introduced in England and Wales.
Speaking during the second House of Lords debate on the Health Bill on Monday, shadow health minister Earl Howe called on the government to act quickly to allow pubs to prepare.
He told the debate: "A good many pubs may well wish to accommodate their smoking customers by constructing external smoking areas that do not fall foul of the definitions of what is "enclosed" or "substantially enclosed". Until those definitions are published, they cannot take the risk of applying for the necessary planning permissions."
Lord Warner, representing the government, clarified that there would be a full consultation on the draft regulations which will include this - but he would not make any firm promise on when these would be published.
Representatives of the pub trade in England and Wales met with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport last week to discuss the concessions they want from the government ahead of a ban.
Speaking at last week's Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers AGM, licensing minister James Purnell warned the trade not to get its hopes up about a possible delay to the planned 2007 start date for the ban.
The Publican will be feeding the views of licensees into a meeting with MPs to take place later this summer. Watch this space for how you can get involved.