One year on - smoking ban hailed 'a success'

On 1 July 2007 England became the final part of the UK to introduce a ban on smoking in enclosed public places and workplaces. Like Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland before it, the transition appears to have run smoothly.

According to a report published today by the Department of Health, 98% of businesses now claim to be "fully compliant" with smokefree law, and 91% think that overall the law is being obeyed.

The Government said calls to the national smokefree compliance line - which allows members of the public to report possible breaches of the law - had declined quickly after the first month.

The report revealed that during the nine months from July 2007 to March 2008 there were 477 fixed penalty notices issued and eight court hearings for the offence of individuals smoking in a smokefree premises or vehicle.

In addition, there were 49 fixed penalty notices and eight court hearings for signage offences, as well as 19 court hearings for the offence of failing to prevent smoking in a smokefree premises or vehicle.

In the first nine months of the smokefree legislation, local authorities inspected a total of 390,148 premises and 63,532 vehicles required under the law to be smokefree. They found that 98.2% were smokefree, complying with the requirements of the law and that 87.2% were displaying the correct no-smoking signage.

More quitting

Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, commented: "One year on and the smokefree law has been accepted by the general public and businesses alike, with almost universal compliance from day one.

"This means that everyone now has the right to enjoy the benefits of a cleaner, healthier environment, free from secondhand smoke."

According to Cancer Research UK, the legislation has helped more smokers to quit than ever before and will help prevent an estimated 40,000 deaths over the next 10 years.

Its research found that the decline in smoking prevalence for the nine months pre-July 2007 was 1.6% compared to 5.5% in the nine months post July 2007.

Jean King, Cancer Research UK's director of tobacco control, said: "The smokefree law was introduced to protect the health of workers from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke. These results show it has also encouraged smokers to quit."

For a reminder of what smokefree legislation in England and other parts of the UK means for businesses, see our special feature from last year 'Smokefree regulations - what you should know'.