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Council staff learn how to police smoking ban
Last updated at 10:30am on 15.02.07
The smoking ban comes into force on July 1
Thousands of council staff are being trained to police the smoking ban in pubs, offices and restaurants.
Ministers have given councils £30 million to pay for the constabulary of "smoking police".
The specially trained staff will patrol bars and workplaces and have the right to issue onthespot £50 fines to anyone caught flouting the ban when it comes into force on 1 July.
They will also have to power to initiate court action against any bar, restaurant, office or factory which fails to comply.
In an extraordinary extension of the powers granted to town hall workers, officers will be able to enter premises undercover and to film and photograph people for evidence.
Local authorities will take responsibility for enforcing the ban so it does not consume police time. But the pro-smoking lobby believes the plan is a waste of public money.
The British Beer and Pub Association condemned the Government's move as "heavy handed and elaborate". The ban will apply to most public spaces including train stations, factories, offices and bars. Anyone breaking the new laws faces a £50 fixed penalty, which could rise to £200 if taken to court.
Business owners are liable to a £2,500 fine if they fail to enforce the ban.
More than 1,200 council officers are being fully trained on how to police the ban, they will then brief town hall staff.
In London, there are expected to be several hundred anti-smoking officers, with at least 40 patrolling Westminster.
Ian Gray, chief trainer for the government course, said people were "pretty law-abiding" and undercover filming would only be used in "exceptional cases".
But Simon Clark, director of smokers lobby group Forest, said the scheme would be a "waste of public money".
Reader views (14)
Here's a sample of the latest views published. You can click view all to read all views that readers have sent in.
I'm a smoker but do not have problems with this ban. It is possible for smokers to refrain from smoking if they have to - when I fly long-haul I cannot smoke and do not have issues with it. I totally understand why people object to others smoking around them - even I can't stand the stale smell of smoke or disgusting, smelly ashtrays. One day I will be a non-smoker and hopefully the next time I give up it will be permenant. Why do I smoke? I only wish I knew but it is very hard to give up. Manufacturers should be banned from putting the addictive chemicals in them then it would not be such a problem but the government won't intervene because the revenue they get from them runs into billions of pounds. Why do you think they're increasing tax on just about everything else - they'd have to recoup their money from somewhere if half the smokers suddenly decided to give up.
- Julie, London, England
Smokers have to understand that their smoke DOES affect non smokers. It stinks and is bad for other non smokers to have to smell and inhale the air surrounding such a filthy habit. Smoke seems to spread out and penetrate well beyond the smokers personal 6ft radius.
- Terry, Hounslow
No problem up here in Scotland where we have been smoke-free for a lovely long time - it's great and I hope you all enjoy it as much as we do!
- Annie, Scotland
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