Two and a half years ago, the government made it illegal to smoke in virtually all enclosed public places and workplaces in England. Since the introduction compliance rates nationally have been around 97 per cent, a fact recognised by Sir Liam Donaldson, Chief Medical Officer, who offered praise following the smoke free ban, “We could not have achieved this without the tireless work of local authorities…who helped to ensure that everyone knew in good time how the law would affect them.  

During a LACORS hosted conference in London on Thursday 28 January 2010 John Tilley, Senior Policy Manager at the Department of Health, looked back at the very positive introduction of the smoke free regulations and outlined a new tobacco strategy soon to be launched in England. The strategy sets out the department’s vision to build on the positive steps already taken, working to eradicate tobacco harms and create a smokefree future.

He also mentioned the 2009 Health Act which is likely to prohibit cigarette vending machines and further regulate shop displays. In closing, Mr Tilley spoke the rapid impact and savings on the NHS of the smokefree ban, with a significant reduction of admission to hospital from heart attacks and strokes.

Ian Gray MBE, Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, spoke about the problems presented by outside smoking shelters and the minority of persistent offenders wilfully breaking the law.  

Linda Bauld, Professor of Social Policy at the University of Bath, shared her research into the impacts of the legislation. One notable impact was the research into the air quality of bars in Scotland before and after the smokefree laws. Before the ban, PM2.5 particulates in the air were at peak times well in excess of the US Environmental Protection Agency limits for safe outside air. However after the ban, the measured air quality improved by 86 per cent. 

Rachel Ainsworth and Marie Devine from the London Borough of Newham outlined their project to provide guidance to environmental health officers on Shisha bars. These bars are a growing problem in many areas, particularly in London, as they have a high level non-compliance. The Shisha is commonly smoked inside or in outside enclosed shelters that breach regulations. The team found some shop owners willing to go to extreme lengths to protect their lucrative businesses and get around the smoke free laws. 

During the project the team tested many of the available Shisha products for tobacco and labelling, contrary to popular belief most of the products contained tobacco, only two brands tested did not. Another area of concern is that Shisha is popular among young people and therefore underage issues arise, however test purchasing is often difficult or not practical.

Julia Hope and Alison Paul from Cheshire outlined their project which looked at smoking in common areas of flats and shared tenancies. The project focussed on the student accommodation at Chester University and on 500 flats and maisonettes in three deprived areas around Cheshire West and Chester.

The team conducted interviews with subjects from both groups, residents and students, to inform on the scale of the problem, the reasons why people were smoking in the communal areas and what might be effective as a deterrent.

The results of the focus groups were used to devise a poster campaign which was tested by a social research company to find the best fit for each audience. The presentation, available below, outlines the focus group results and illustrates the posters.

Jenny Davenport & Julie Searing reported on a project from Greater Manchester, Monitoring Compliance with Smoke Free Legislation in Large Stadia & Public Venues. The project is significant not only because of the upcoming 2012 Olympic games in London, but due the large number of events in stadiums and outdoor venues run each year across the UK.

The public protection partnership set about, investigating the scale of compliance with smoke free legislation in stadia and venues in the north west of England, understanding the experiences and views of officers in monitoring compliance, and trying to identify the best evidence to inform strategies for improving compliance.

Alongside reviewing national research the team surveyed both environmental health officers and fans for views and experiences. The fan based research found that over 90 percent of respondents liked smoke free venues, and some 77 per cent felt that smokers caught blatantly ignoring the smoke free rules should be evicted from the grounds.

Some of the issues that councils face with smoke free compliance in stadia is the demographic profile of patrons attending football matches, the effect of group behaviours in football crowds, the size of football crowds and size of regulatory and stadia resources, and ensuring personal safety of Officers in monitoring compliance. However strategies that have clear penalties for non-compliance, clear lines of authority on enforcement, visible signage, and links to Public Health Programmes had the greatest positive effect on compliance.

The conference also saw the launch of a new report by LACORS, Comprehensive Tobacco Control and Council Trading Standards. The report outlines the work that council trading standards services across England and Wales have carried out during 2008 and 2009 to cut underage access to tobacco products, help educate the public and retailers, and help eradicate counterfeit and smuggled tobacco products.

Presentations from the Department of Health sponsored smokefree conference:

Tour of the smokefree horizon: John Tilley, Senior Policy Manager, Department of Health

Continued exposure to secondhand smoke in the workplace and public places: Ian Gray MBE, Principal Policy Officer, Chartered Institute of Environmental Health

The impact of smokefree legislation, an overview of the evidence: Professor Linda Bauld, Professor of Social Policy, Department of Social and Policy Sciences, University of Bath

Shisha project: Rachel Ashworth, Tobacco Control Coordinator, London Borough of Newham and Marie Devine, Consultant Research Officer, London Borough of Newham

Smoking in common areas project: Julia Hope, Strategic Commissioning Manager – Health and Well-Being, Cheshire West and Chester Council and Alison Paul, Tobacco Control Alliance Coordinator, NHS Western Cheshire

Workplace Transport project: Tracey Beattie:, Food and Commercial Manager, Tunbridge Wells Borough Council

Smokefree toolkit: Linda Saxe, Derbyshire County Council

Stadia and Large Open Air Events project: Jenny Davenport, Specialist Manager Food and Safety, Manchester City Council and Julie Searing, Service Manager Business Compliance, Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council