Health Bill

My hon. Friend is right. For the Government to say that tackling health inequalities is a key priority and then to put in place a measure that will make them worse does not stack up. When they launched the embarrassing statistics in the summer that showed that health inequalities had risen under them, the answer was, ““We have these things called spearhead primary care trusts, which deal particularly with deprived areas.”” When the spearhead PCTs responded to the consultation, they said:"““Many spearhead PCTs suggest that the proposed legislation will make it harder for them to meet their targets on health inequalities””." In reflecting on the comment on conflicting targets, we have one bit of the Government setting targets for relatively deprived areas to reduce inequality while another bit of the same Department is making it harder for them to reduce inequality. We have heard, and the Health Select Committee was advised in its oral evidence, that enforcement is more difficult with a partial ban. Presumably, I will have to go up to the bar and ask the barmaid whether she sells pre-packaged ambient shelf- stable snacks before I can decide whether to light up. That is the criterion. It is absurd to have separate categories. We heard about Ireland, and if the other customers do the enforcement, they need to be clear about the legislation. If a place serves food at lunchtime but not in the evening, a customer who uses it in the evening is supposed to know that to determine whether he can smoke.