Health Bill

I have absolutely no problem with a Minister conferring with his officials. My problem is that there is no point in my asking a question while he is conferring. If I notice that he is conferring, I shall go much more slowly to give him plenty of time to do his conferring. One of my disappointments with the Committee is that most of the digging for information is being done by those who are sitting on this side, although there are obviously supporters of the Government’s position on this side. I should have hoped by now that the Minister would recognise that, although we are shut away in the Moses Room, this issue is of great interest to the general public.  I read a really interesting article, which I shall not quote from but which some of my colleagues will undoubtedly have read, on 2 May in the Independent, which contains a complete review of the scientific basis. I am sure that my noble friend on my right has read it; if not, he jolly well ought to. I have done a little bit of research on smoking in company cars. When I was a trainee rep for the Rickett and Coleman Group, which I was proud to be, I had a company car. It did not say Rickett and Coleman on the side; it was a car which I, as a relief rep, had to use when I stood in for people who went on holiday and otherwise. As I have already declared, I do not smoke and never have, other than behind the bike sheds. In Scotland, Ireland and New York City, they have banned smoking in company cars. Interestingly, California, which I thought had led the drive forward, has found that that is impracticable. California now bans smoking only in some company cars. Unfortunately, in the time available, I have not managed to obtain a definition of ““some””, but I hope that the Minister’s officials could do a little bit of ferreting before Report so that we can find out a little more. The implication is that if the company car is emblazoned with the name on the side, smoking in it is banned; but if it is not, it is not caught. Not a single other country in Europe or anywhere else in the world has followed the route down which we are thinking of going. Even more interestingly, Germany, which was minded to go down the route of the Bill, has rejected it on privacy grounds. Are we absolutely certain that we want to go down that route for company cars? I very much hope that we will come to the conclusion that we do not. That, in essence, is the purpose of the amendment. It follows the procedure that the Government employed in Clause 3 concerning the designation of certain pubs and clubs as exempt. I wait to hear the Minister’s response. I beg to move.