Smoking ban in UK came into force on July 1st 2007 making smoking in public places making it illegal to do so. November 16th 2004, the Government produced a white paper proposing a smoking ban in almost all public places in England and Wales. The idea was to be phased in starting with a ban in the NHS and also Government Buildings by 2006, then pubs and restaurants (except pubs not serving food) by the end of 2008.
After many or debates, it was decided that all workplaces, including pubs, restaurants with pubs selling food, would have the ban in place by July 1st 2007. It wasn't an easy transition though with many MP's trying to overturn the bill followed in close pursuit by many representatives from the licencing trade.
Once the law was passed and in force, the coalition Government announced that a proposed review of the new enforcements, would not go ahead after MP David Nuttall tried to excempt private members' clubs and pubs from the smoking ban in UK.
While the ban affects almost all indoor workplaces, some exemptions were provided:
1. Bus shelters (provided they are less than 50% covered, some councils however assume no exemptions apply),
2. Phone boxes (but box types K2 to K8 are included, because they are completely sealed)
3. Hotel rooms (if they are designated as smoking rooms) nursing homes
4. Prisons*
5. Offshore oil rigs (only in designated rooms)
6. Stages/television sets (if needed for the performance, except in rehearsals)
7. Specialist tobacconists in relation to sampling cigars and/or pipe tobacco.
An exemption was also theoretically possible within the Palace of Westminster, as for other Royal Palaces, although members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords agreed to observe the spirit of the ban and restrict any smoking within the grounds of Parliament to four designated outside areas. Smoking is permitted in a private residence, although not in areas used as a shared work-space. In flats with communal entrances or shared corridors, these must be smoke-free.
* Prisons in the UK are planning to ban cigarette smoking by 2015 which in turn could take away a powerful inmates currency. This idea has come about with the threat of prison officers being able to make claims about damage to their health from smoking. Around 80% of prisoners smoke in UK Prisons and pilot schemes already trialled on the Isle of Man and Guernsey have been effective with the removal of tobacco and the provision of help to overcome the nicotine with patches has been made.
Maybe there is a future in the vapour cigarette marketplace to supply or make available the new version of healthier smoking to prisons?
