Smoking ban put on the back-burner

Related tags Smoking Outright smoking ban Passive smoking

A ban on smoking in pubs has been put on the back-burner thanks to the industry's success with self-regulation. This week the trade's Charter Group...

A ban on smoking in pubs has been put on the back-burner thanks to the industry's success with self-regulation.

This week the trade's Charter Group revealed that 63 per cent of pubs in England and Wales are now compliant with the Charter - beating the minimum 50 per cent requirement agreed with the government.

But despite the good news, the Department of Health (DOH) says that "more must be done".

The Charter promotes self-regulation on smoking through the use of signage, good ventilation and no-smoking areas where possible.

Industry leaders hope the success of the initiative will give a signal to the government that self-regulation is the way forward for the pub trade rather than an outright smoking ban.

Announcing the results of independent research into the effectiveness of the Charter on Smoking, Nick Bish, head of the industry's Charter Group, said: "This is great news and a tribute to the hard work invested by operators at every level.

"I hope this will put an end to much of the speculation and scaremongering that we have encountered recently.

"It does not mean that we can relax and do nothing - all of the evidence shows that customers and staff prefer cleaner air, whether they smoke or not.

"If we want to prosper we must deliver it through smoking restrictions and effective ventilation.

"Self-regulation provides us with the flexibility to do this according to our own trading styles and circumstances."

The Charter Group's comprehensive evidence showed that 51 per cent of Charter-compliant pubs restricted smoking or provided high quality ventilation - beating the 35 per cent target.

The most investment in ventilation has been undertaken by managed house pub groups.

But disappointingly, the DOH has not recognised the industry's hard work and has issued a scathing statement.

A spokesman said: "Non-smokers make up the majority of the population and the majority of non-smokers mind if someone smokes near them. Expansion of smoke-free places in pubs, bars and restaurants would meet public demand."

The DOH said that only 43 per cent of pubs had a formal written policy in place, which it claims fell short of its target. It added that around half of pubs that were Charter-compliant still allowed smoking throughout, with only a handful of premises being entirely smoke-free.

"More must be done and rapidly," the spokesman said. "The government will be considering the issue of second hand smoke in light of these findings."

Licensees fear that an outright smoking ban to protect against passive smoking could lead to a huge drop in trade and a loss of jobs.

The Publican's Market Report 2002, a survey of 750 publicans, showed that on average licensees thought they would lose around 39 per cent of custom if smoking were banned.

Of the 34,263 pubs that took part in the Charter survey, 22 per cent had separate smoking areas while 18 per cent were non-compliant.

Looking ahead Mr Bish said: "The Charter has been a great success to date, but clearly this is not the end of the road. We look forward to agreeing the detail of where we go from here with the Department of Health in the next few weeks."

Oliver Griffiths, spokesman for Atmosphere Improves Results, agreed: "I think the results are astonishing considering where the industry has come from. It's certainly great news but nobody can relax."

MP for Harrow West, Gareth Thomas, is still proposing new legislation to ban smoking in cafés and restaurants because of the impact of passive smoking on workers. His proposal is to be discussed in Parliament on July 11.