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Smoking Ban

 

Key facts on the smoking ban 

 

The new law banning smoking in enclosed public places in Wales came into force on 2nd April 2007. The aim of the smoking law is to protect workers and the general public from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke.

 

The law has created three specific offences:

• Failing to display no-smoking signs in premises covered by the law
• Smoking in a smoke-free place
• Failing to prevent smoking in a smoke-free place.

Similar legislation which previously came into force in Ireland and Scotland, and this has been very successful. A smoking ban will be introduced in England on the 1^st July 2007.

 

The new law will affect most public premises, including restaurants, pubs, bars, shops, cinemas, shopping centres, leisure centres, other enclosed workplaces and public transport.

 

Are there any exemptions to the law?

 

Only a few exemptions are allowed, mainly on humanitarian grounds or to cover workplaces which are also a person's place of residence. These include:

• designated rooms in adult residential care homes
• designated rooms in residential mental health treatment settings
• designated hotel bedrooms

Premises in respect of which a club premises certificate (within the meaning of section 60 of the Licensing Act 2003) has effect are explicitly covered and cannot be exempted.

 

What is meant by "wholly enclosed" and "substantially enclosed"?

 

The law applies to wholly or substantially enclosed premises, so it is important to understand what this means.

 

Wholly or substantially enclosed premises means an area with a ceiling or roof that - except for doors, windows and passageways - is either wholly enclosed (whether permanently or temporarily); or is enclosed apart from an opening which is less than half the area of its walls. A legal definition is set out in the regulations, but it  generally means that any room or structure with a roof/ceiling and more than 50% of its sides as walls will be covered. This means that the provision of smoking rooms inside workplaces will no longer be allowed.

 

Hotels, boarding houses, guest houses, inns and hostels will be covered by the new law. However, proprietors will have the ability to designate one or more bedrooms where the occupants can smoke if they wish to do so. Communal areas of the hotel should be smoke-free.