Smoking ban in public places

• Abstract
• Purpose of health policy or idea
• Characteristics of this policy
• Political and economic background
• Purpose and process analysis
• Expected outcome
• References

Abstract

On July 1st 2007, the Health Act 2006 came into force, which makes it illegal to smoke in shops, offices, factories, pubs, cafes, restaurents, membership clubs, public transport, and work vehicles that are used by more than one person. The Government sees this as the most important single piece of public health legislation in a generation, and estimates that it will substantially reduce the number of deaths caused by passive smoking.

Purpose of health policy or idea

The Health Act 2006, which came into force on July 1st 2007, makes it illegal to smoke in public places, including pubs, restaurants and cafes in England. The legislation follows on from similar, seemingly successful policies introduced in New York, Ireland and Scotland, and the Government estimates that in England the Act will eventually lead to 600,000 fewer smokers by being supportive towards those who want to quit smoking. The Government also estimates that thousands of lives will be saved by substantially reducing the amount of smoke that people passively inhale.

Penalties and fines will be imposed on businesses that violate the smoking ban. The smoking ban forms part of a Government plan of action to tackle smoking; for example, on October 1st 2007 the legal minimum age for buying tobacco was increased from 16 to 18 years of age, with the argument being that young people, if they start smoking, and likely to become lifelong smokers, and attempts should be made to try to dissuade 'minors' from starting smoking .

Main points

Main objectives

The objective is to ban smoking in public places in order to reduce the incidence of passive smoking. The instrument takes the form of a law - it is now illegal to smoke in pubs, restaurants, cafes etc., and businesses face fines if they break this law.

Type of incentives

The incentives are 'negative'; i.e. business that break the law will be fined.

Groups affected

Smokers, owners of pubs, restaurants, cafes etc., the general public

Degree of Innovation	traditional		innovative
Degree of Controversy	consensual		highly controversial
Structural or Systemic Impact	marginal		fundamental
Public Visibility	very low		very high
Transferability	strongly system-dependent		system-neutral

As detailed above, the policy does seem to be meeting its short-term objective. I am personally a little concerned with the level of state interference of individual liberties, but the policy enjoys a high level of public support, and therefore, in this instance, the Government does seem to be enacting a policy that the people want.

Political and economic background

There has not been a change in Government; the smoking ban has been planned for some time and is part of the Government's general policy direction. However, the success of similar policies in New York, Ireland and Scotland probably influenced the Government in deciding to push forward with this new law, and, moreover, they have a high level of public support (estimated at 80%) for the policy.

Change based on an overall national health policy statement

The legislation forms part of the Health Act 2006

Purpose and process analysis

Current Process Stages

	Idea	Pilot	Policy Paper	Legislation	Implementation	Evaluation	Change
Implemented in this survey?

Origins of health policy idea

For several years, there have been moves in place to ban smoking in public places, in part to try to serve as an incentive for people to quit smoking, and in part to reduce the incidence of passive smoking, particularly to better safeguard the health of those working in sectors where the incidence of smoking is high, such as the leisure industry covering pubs, restaurants and cafes. Perhaps influenced in part by the success of similar policies introduced abroad, the Government leglislated the ban on smoking in public places as part of the Health Act 2006, which came into force on July 1st 2007.

Initiators of idea/main actors

• Government

• Patients, Consumers

• Private Sector or Industry

• Media

Approach of idea

The approach of the idea is described as:
new:

Stakeholder positions

The Central Government was ultimately very keen to introduce the smoking ban in public places, and once the Health Act 2006 was passed through Parliament, the policy was legislated.

The smoking ban has an estimated 80% support among the general public, which makes it difficult politically for any political party to openly oppose the ban, although there are some opinion leaders who argue that the Government is being overly paternalistic in infringing on civil liberties by imposing the ban, and accuse the Government of attempting to create a 'nanny state'.

Actors and positions

Government
Central government	very supportive		strongly opposed
Local government	very supportive		strongly opposed
Patients, Consumers
General public	very supportive		strongly opposed
Private Sector or Industry
Leisure industry	very supportive		strongly opposed
Media
Newspapers etc	very supportive		strongly opposed

Influences in policy making and legislation

As noted above, the leglisation has already been enacted.

Legislative outcome

success

Actors and influence

Government
Central government	very strong		none
Local government	very strong		none
Patients, Consumers
General public	very strong		none
Private Sector or Industry
Leisure industry	very strong		none
Media
Newspapers etc	very strong		none

Positions and Influences at a glance

Adoption and implementation

The Central Government assumes oversight for the success (or otherwise) of the policy. In terms of enforcing the policy, enforcement officers from the local authorities have been working closely with the businesses to whom the ban applies to ensure compliance with the ban. The ban means that it will be an offence:

• to smoke in smokefree premises or vehicles (failure carries a fixed fine of 50 pounds); 
• for those who control smoke free places to permit others to smoke in those places (failure carries a fine of up to 2,500 pounds); 
• for those who control smoke free places to fail to display no smoking signs (failure carries a fixed fine of 200 pounds).

Monitoring and evaluation

As noted above, compliance with the ban will be monitored by enforcement officers employed by the local authorities.

Review mechanisms

Mid-term review or evaluation

Dimensions of evaluation

Process

Results of evaluation

It will of course take many years to assess whether the ban has led to a reduction in the number of smokers, and/or improved health outcomes. Indeed, given the number of confounding influences, it may never be possible to assess the effectiveness of the plan in these regards.

But two weeks after the ban was introduced, 97% of inspected premises (and there had been nearly 90,000 inspections) were complying with the ban. That is to say that 97% of premises where prohibiting smoking (98% of smokefree vehicles), although at that point in time, only 79% of premises were displaying the required no-smoking signage at the entrance to buildings (84% of smokefree vehicles). In total, local councils had issued on 142 written warnings (0.2% of the total) to premises that had failed to prevent smoking, adopting a 'light touch' rather than draconian measures at this early stage in the policy's life. 

Expected outcome

In terms of banning smoking in public places, the policy seems to be highly effective. Whether the policy will directly reduce the incidence of smoking and smoking-related diseases, remains to be seen.

Impact of this policy

Quality of Health Care Services	marginal		fundamental
Level of Equity	system less equitable		system more equitable
Cost Efficiency	very low		very high

References

Sources of Information

Department of Health. "Smokefree England - one month on". Government News Network. August 6, 2007. www.gnn.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=305420&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=False

Department of Health. "England goes smokefree". Government News Network. July 1, 2007. www.gnn.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=295863&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=False

Author/s and/or contributors to this survey

Oliver, Adam

Suggested citation for this online article

Oliver, Adam. "Smoking ban in public places". Health Policy Monitor, October 2007. Available at http://www.hpm.org/survey/uk/a10/4