The Live Wire



Press Release

CAMDEN COUNCIL WELCOMES BAN ON SMOKING IN PUBLIC PLACES

15 February 2006

Camden Council has welcomed last night's crucial vote to ban smoking in public places, because the measure will help in the battle to tackle health inequalities in the borough.

In yesterday’s Commons vote on the Health Improvement and Protection Bill MPs voted on three options: banning smoking in both licensed premises and membership clubs; banning smoking in licensed premises but not genuine membership clubs; and exempting non-food-serving pubs and membership clubs.

Cllr John Thane, Executive Member for Environment, Camden Council, said:

"Camden Council has always supported a complete ban on smoking in public places and so this is excellent news. One of the council’s top priorities is to narrow the divide in the very sharp health inequalities which the borough currently suffers by improving the health of poorer communities, and this smoking ban will help us do this."

Camden Council has always argued - including in its response with Camden Primary Care Trust (PCT) to the Government's consultation on the Bill in July 2005 - that a partial smoking ban would have widened health inequalities in the borough. This was shown in a survey1 of pub and bar managers in the borough that revealed that more premises in poorer areas would have remained smoking, whereas those in the wealthier areas would become smoke-free.

Figures2 published last month found that 35 per cent of people in the London Borough of Camden smoke, which is above the regional average of 30 per cent but below that of Islington, which has the highest proportion at 38 per cent.

Camden Council also believes that the full ban on smoking will be clearer and simpler for licensees, staff and council environmental health officers to enforce, and so avoid any confusion for customers on where they can or cannot smoke.



Press releases, papers and documents published on this page are the intellectual property of an organisation unrelated to Central Lobby. We promote their parliamentary and political campaigning activities as they are subscribers to the Central Lobby service.

As such, Central Lobby does not edit, endorse, or attempt to balance the opinions expressed on this page. The content of press releases and other such types of content are the responsibility of the originating organisation.

Camden Council

More from Dods

© Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd