Smoke police to cost £29.5million

Related tags Smoking ban Local government Smoking State

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Thousands of council staff are being trained to police the smoking ban at a cost of £29.5million. The Government has given the money to local...

Thousands of council staff are being trained to police the smoking ban at a cost of £29.5million.

The Government has given the money to local authorities to train the 'smoke police' despite evidence from Scotland that they have been largely under-employed.

There will be two ways of doing this, either staff can go in and identify themselves to the landlord, but they don't have to​Ian Gray, chief trainer for the government course.

The 'smoke police' will be able to give on-the-spot £50 fines to individuals and start court action against premises.

They will also have the power to enter premises undercover, allowing them to sit among drinkers, and will even be able to photograph and film people.

A government-funded course is expected to train 1,200 council officers in the next few months with more expected to follow later.

These trained staff will teach other employees how to police the ban.

In London, there will be several hundred smoke police with 40 expected in Westminster alone.

Ian Gray, policy officer for the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and chief trainer for the government course, said: "These officers do not have to identify themselves when they go into premises and they can even film and photograph people to gather evidence although this may not be appropriate in many cases.

"There will be two ways of doing this, either staff can go in and identify themselves to the landlord, but they don't have to."

A spokesman for the British Beer and Pub Association told the BBC the approach was too "heavy-handed and elaborate".

He added: "In Scotland, there have been just 11 fixed penalty notices issued to premises in the last 10 months, with many councils having issued none at all."

Paul Smith, executive deirector of BEDA, told the MA: "The Government needs to spend a great deal on informing the public - the Scottish Exec spent £6 million on a media campaign to raise awareness - to ensure everyone knows.

"We would support the softly, softly approach as far as enforcement is concerned as this has proven to be an effective strategy when it was introduced in Scotland."

Local Government Association spokesman Sandy Bruce-Lockhart agreed that most smokers would comply without the need for covert operations.

She said: "Councils have no interest whatsoever in snooping on people.

"Their only interest is in making sure that businesses, landlords, and smokers understand what the smoking ban means when it comes into force, and showing those who flout the law that their actions have consequences.

"Experiences in Scotland, where a similar ban was introduced last year, have shown the vast majority of smokers are responsible and respect the new law.

"No doubt the same will be true in England."

Related topics Legislation

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