Smoking ban advice for Manchester licensees
A trade group in Manchester has issued smoke ban advice for the city's licensees after encountering a lack of knowledge about what was expected to conform to the new law.
Manchester, along with the rest of England, will go smoke free on July 1 but after receiving calls from a number of concerned licensees the Manchester Pub and Club Network has issued the following official advice.
"Smoking Ban
"As you will be aware, the smoking ban in England comes into force on 1st July 2007. All enclosed premises which are open to the public or used as a place of work will be smoke-free under the new Health Act.
"It will be an offence to either: (I) smoke in smoke-free premises, (ii) to fail to stop someone smoking in smoke-free premises or (iii) to fail to display the required notices at each entrance to smoke free premises.
Use of Outside Areas
"A major issue in respect of licensed premises in particular is the use of your beer garden or other outside space. The ban may mean that you will need to use your outside area to accommodate smokers. However before any changes are made there are a number of issues that you should consider:
"1. Whether there are any conditions on your Premises Licence that restrict the use of the outside area. If so then an application for a variation of the Premises Licence should be made to remove these conditions.
"2. Whether there are any conditions on the Premises Licence relating to noise, if for example there is a condition on the licence that any noise from the premises must be inaudible at the nearest residential property, it will be difficult to comply with this condition if the outside area of the premises is being used more frequently. Again an application for variation would need to be submitted to remove or vary these conditions.
"3. If any changes are made to the structure or layout of the licensed area (inside or outside) a variation of the Premises Licence will need to be applied for or even a new Premises Licence depending on the extent of the changes.
"4. The planning permission in respect of the outside area of the premises needs to be checked. Applications for planning permission tend to take at least 8 weeks for a straightforward application, therefore you should make preparations as soon as possible.
"5. Any awning / shelter that is being erected to accommodate smokers will need to fall outside the definition of "substantially enclosed" as any area which is enclosed or substantially enclosed will need to be smoke-free. An area is substantially enclosed if it has a ceiling or roof and walls which have an opening which is less than half the area of the walls.
"6. If you haven't got a beer garden, then you may want to think about obtaining a Highways Act licence to allow you to place tables and chairs on the pavement outside your premises. This would allow your customers to sit outside with their drinks and have a cigarette.
"7. Have you got a condition on your licence which states a last entry time, or a condition which says that customers cannot be re-admitted after they have left? If so, you need to think about applying to remove or amend these conditions or coming up with a wristband or 'pass out' system.
"Summary: Preparing for the Smoking Ban
- Ensure that there are no smoking signs ready to put in place at all entrances to the premises.
- Prepare a policy detailing the checks that will be carried out to ensure no-one is smoking and what the procedure will be if a member of staff finds someone smoking.
- Consider whether there is a need to vary the Premises Licence either to remove conditions or to take account of changes to the licensed area.
- Consider whether any smoking shelter falls outside the definition of "substantially enclosed".
"If you need further information about the new smoking legislation Mnchester Pub & Club Network leading Kuit Steinart Levy Solicitors will be on hand to offer help and advice . The team can be contacted on 0161 838 7888."
