Health Bill

I do not know of any specific allocation by the Government. I only know that, in South Cambridgeshire, a significant reduction in mental health resources is expected, and I imagine that that is reflected elsewhere. If my hon. Friend will forgive me, however, I will not proceed down that path. The debate in which we have engaged during the past few minutes illustrates the difficulty. Even if the Government proposed a comprehensive smoking ban, it would be necessary to explore in detail how it would be applied in specific circumstances. I do not pretend that that would be easy, but we should at least be clear about the objective, which is to enable people to live in smoke-free environments and, wherever possible, to create such environments in order to reduce the prevalence of smoking. Where does the issue of food come into the debate? I asked the Secretary of State that question, but I am afraid she did not reply. When the Scientific Committee on Tobacco and Health published its otherwise admirable report to the Government and the chief medical officer—it appeared alongside the public health White Paper in November last year—it was clearly deficient in not mentioning the instrumental relationship, in health terms, between the consumption of food and exposure to second-hand smoke. That must surely have motivated the Government’s conclusion that second-hand smoke was dangerous where food was being prepared, but where no food—or only shelf staples and pre-packaged food—was being consumed, it was not dangerous at all. What will be the consequences of the structure that the Government propose for future regulations? In September, the British Medical Journal published the report of a survey conducted in Telford and Wrekin. I do not think that my hon. Friend the Member for The Wrekin (Mark Pritchard) is here. I should have told him that I was going to mention this—I apologise. The survey covered pubs, and all licensed premises, in the borough. Those who conducted it tried to work out what proportion of premises would be exempt, and concluded—on the basis of what they found in Telford and Wrekin—that two thirds of English pubs in deprived areas would be exempt, whereas only a quarter would be exempt in affluent areas. Action on Smoking and Health has made not dissimilar observations; if anything, it has slightly underestimated the proportion of pubs in deprived areas that will continue to be exempt. The survey of all licensed premises, including members’ clubs, found that two fifths of establishments in affluent areas and four fifths in deprived areas would be exempt. Can the Government really imagine that their proposals will result in anything other than a worsening of health inequalities? I am not arguing that the prevalence of smoking would not be somewhat reduced, but we should not exaggerate that. Last year’s report to the chief medical officer on smoking in workplaces revealed that there was no smoking in 50 per cent. of workplaces, in 36 per cent. smoking took place only in designated areas and in 5 per cent. people worked alone rather than with others, so only 9 per cent. of people at work would be exposed to second-hand smoke if they did not wish to be. However, the Government’s proposal to discriminate between premises on the basis of whether food is prepared and served clearly drives to the issue of health inequalities. It means that health inequalities will widen, when inequalities in health and mortality expectations between the most affluent and the most deprived areas have widened already.