Health Bill

I have the greatest respect for medical officers, and when the right hon. Member for Charnwood (Mr. Dorrell) was responsible for the health service, a substantial body of medical opinion called for bans such as those in the Bill. I congratulate the Government on going so far with what will hopefully be a landmark Bill on smoking. After 18 years of Tory Government, we should now make as much progress as possible. The Bill could have gone much further than a partial ban on smoking. As I said in an intervention, my greatest concern is what the Bill will do for health inequalities. That concern is shared by not only Sir Liam Donaldson in his evidence to the Health Committee, but many other distinguished people. The Under-Secretary of State for Health, my hon. Friend the Member for Don Valley (Caroline Flint), who has responsibility for public health, must satisfy herself that the Government are dealing with health inequalities. My primary care trust, which is a spearhead trust, is getting extra money to deal with health inequalities—the increase is some 9.4 per cent. this year and 8.4 per cent. next year. We do not want legislation that makes the matter worse, and the more that I look at the evidence and the situation on the ground—I speak as an ex-smoker—the more I believe that the Government should use the time between now and Royal Assent to make sure that they are doing everything that they can to reduce health inequalities. The issue concerns changing behaviour, because nothing can be done by legislation alone. It involves hearts and minds as well as legislation, and properly trained enforcement officers will be important, too. I was interested in the contribution by my right hon. Friend the Member for Rother Valley (Mr. Barron), who is Chairman of the Health Committee. On 24 November, the Committee took evidence from the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, of which I am vice-president. In its comments, the CIEH makes it clear that it strongly opposes the proposed exemptions for pubs and clubs that do not serve food. The CIEH position is that all workers should be afforded an equal level of protection. I have this to say to hon. Members who have already spoken: we are not discussing private places; we are discussing public places. There is no justification for exempting premises where workers are exposed to the greatest risk. The CIEH believes that its members will face the serious ethical issue whether it is professionally acceptable to participate in the enforcement of a law that unjustifiably fails to protect whole categories of vulnerable people and may be open to subsequent challenges under human rights legislation. I urge my hon. Friend the Minister to speak to those who will enforce the legislation. I know that time is limited and that many other hon. Members want to speak. In the short time remaining, I shall refer to the issues that concern my local spearhead PCT. Smoking is the single most important cause of illness and death in Stoke-on-Trent, where it kills more than 450 people each year. Are we sure that it is right to leave the most vulnerable workers at risk from the dangers posed by breathing other people’s tobacco smoke? Exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke has been linked to lung cancer and heart disease since the 1980s, when many people started to campaign to bring about a ban on smoking. In my constituency, 64 per cent. of licensed premises do not serve food and will therefore be exempt from the smoke-free legislation. In the most deprived wards, however, 84 per cent. of pubs will be exempt, leaving both workers and the community at risk and contributing to the social acceptability and normalisation of smoking within those communities. Moreover, the PCT in Stoke-on-Trent and I believe that two out of every three smokers who want to quit are hindered by the environments in which they socialise. Hon. Members have already covered many aspects of the debate. I shall briefly refer to the views of Charles Pantin, a consultant physician at the University hospital of north Staffordshire. He has written to me setting out the medical evidence on the risks to health from second-hand smoking, including the links to heart disease, asthma, reduced lung function, chest discomfort and all the other illnesses associated with second-hand smoke. This is a momentous opportunity for the Government to make a positive impact on smoke-free workplaces. We must make sure that we are doing everything that we can to help those who want to quit to do so and to prevent people from starting to smoke. This two-tier legislation does not send a simple, concise message. The Bill should contain a comprehensive, simple law to end smoking in the workplace. I urge the Minister to examine carefully the concerns raised by those hon. Members who want to see more being done to reduce health inequalities.