Health Bill

I have tabled two amendments on this theme. I endorse the concerns so ably expressed by the noble Lord. Nowhere in the Bill is there a provision that unequivocally safeguards people’s private space, whether that is their homes, their cars or wherever. That surely cannot be right. I know that it is not the Government’s intention to bring private dwellings and private cars within the scope of the regulations but, if that is so, as the noble Lord has said, why not allow the Bill to make the exemptions specific? Both homes and vehicles are capable of being used for business purposes as well as private purposes, and I can well understand that there may be a difficulty in defining precisely when the use is private and when it is not. Again, though, that should not prevent a suitable provision from being inserted into the Bill, even if the actual definition of ““private”” has to be left to regulations. It would give everyone a lot of comfort. Otherwise, we are looking at Clause 4, which virtually allows Ministers to designate anywhere they like as smoke-free, and Clause 5, which does the same for vehicles. I am not happy with that, and I hope that the Minister will at least go away and consider whether he is prepared to put some sort of explicit reassurance on the face of the Bill. We have grouped with the first three amendments in the group some other amendments about commencement. My personal view is that we might have done better to address that question in the context of other amendments that relate more directly to business, because it is with the concerns of business, especially the pub trade, that I am in considerable sympathy. Until recently, the business community was anticipating the legislation—and much narrower legislation at that—to come into force in towards the end of 2008. We now have before us a much more comprehensive measure than the one that was first introduced into Parliament: many pubs, hotels and clubs have a lot to do to minimise the commercial impact that the Bill may otherwise have on them. We need to take those concerns very seriously. I shall have more to say about this matter a little later, but I hope that those remarks provide the background to my own Amendment No. 108, which suggests that this chapter should not be brought into force until approximately two years from now.