Hertfordshire County Council to go smoke-free from 1 January 2021

The Council's public health and prevention officers drew up measures on 10 September 2020 that could soon make smoking banned on all Council sites. If these proposals are approved at the next cabinet meeting, they will come into force on 1 January 2021. Until now, employees, volunteers and visitors have been allowed to smoke outdoors in specific areas.

Smoking in the county

According to the cabinet report, there are 110,000 smokers, or 12,130 of the population, in Hertfordshire. Smoking is the leading cause of premature death and the leading cause of chronic disease.

A strong measure

Smoking will therefore be prohibited not only in all indoor and outdoor areas of the Council, but also:

- in vehicles belonging to the Council, as well as in personal vehicles if these are parked within the Council premises,

- during a videoconference or the person would represent the Council in the context of working from home,

- by wearing the Council badge outside its sites. When going out to smoke, the employee must also cover his uniform.

Exceptions provided

Care homes and other residential facilities – considered to be people’s homes – will be exempt from the ban. There will also be exceptions where leaving the site would be dangerous for particular service users – or for those on extended shifts who are not permitted to leave the premises.

A tolerance for vaping

The use of electronic cigarettes will, however, be authorized in a few areas reserved for this purpose and only during unpaid breaks.

News that is sometimes poorly received

When drafting, the policy council officials conducted a staff survey, which was completed by 510 members. Of these, 67 were smokers, 128 were ex-smokers. 73 % of them indicated that they would find it difficult not to smoke during the day and 23 % said it would be difficult to get off site.

In addition, current smoking staff members consider the measure "unfair" to them, pointing the finger at colleagues taking breaks to phone or chat without having to make up the time. Some said they started work earlier, finished later or skipped lunch to be able to take smoking breaks.

Finally, 20 smokers said they would like to quit and 17 said they would not.

Planned weaning support

In implementing the smoke-free policy, the Council has planned information campaigns and will offer free support to those who wish to quit smoking. For example, it will provide free stop-smoking medication to staff for up to 3 months after the policy begins. Executive Member for Public Health and Prevention Cllr Tim Hutchings welcomed the arrangements: “There has been extensive consultation and I think the measures you are putting in place to introduce this, to support staff who need that support, are to be commended.”