Question
Further to the assurances by the Lord Warner on 20 April (Official Report, GC 564) and 24 April (Official Report, GC 57–58) that smoking will not be banned in non-enclosed public spaces in England unless Parliament so decides through the affirmative resolution procedure, whether, if the House of Lords voted against such a resolution, it would not be possible to proceed with such a ban.
Answer
Clause 4 of the Health Bill sets out a power for the appropriate national authority to make regulations to designate as smoke-free any place or description of place that is not smoke-free under Clause 2 of the Bill. The parliamentary procedure for making such regulations is specified in subsection (4) of Clause 78 of the Health Bill.