UK: Government plans to expand smoke-free outdoor public places

The British government is considering banning smoking in a range of outdoor areas, including social areas (restaurant terraces, pubs, nightclubs), but also in parks and around universities, according to a leaked government report that the media outlet The Sun was able to consult. These restrictions will affect the four countries of the United Kingdom.

The measures - the details of which are still unknown - are being proposed as part of an expanded version of the previous government's Tobacco and Vaping Bill, which was abandoned before the last election but revived by Labour in July.

Extend the smoking ban to many outdoor public places

The new government is planning to introduce a number of outdoor smoke-free spaces as part of its drive to phase out smoking and achieve a smoke-free generation. According to leaked Whitehall documents, the plans would include banning smoking on restaurant terraces, outdoor pubs and shisha bars, children's play areas and small parks. The ban could also extend to outdoor areas of nightclubs, stadiums, universities and hospitals.

The restrictions would not apply to private homes, or large open spaces such as large parks or streets. The documents also mention vaping-free zones, but it is not yet clear whether the ban on outdoor consumption would extend to e-cigarettes.

Public health experts welcome the move. Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), said the " The government is simply complying with the public's expectations that they should not have to breathe tobacco smoke in places such as children's playgrounds and outdoor seating areas in pubs, restaurants and cafes."[1].

Faced with criticism from Conservatives that a smoking ban on terraces would harm traders, the Prime Minister's Office has stressed that when the Labour government of then Prime Minister Tony Blair introduced a smoking ban in indoor public places in 2007, it did not harm businesses and helped save lives.

The expansion of smoke-free spaces is a coherent measure to achieve a tobacco-free generation and is recommended by the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. In France, the new national plan to combat smoking (PNLT) also plans to generalize smoking bans on all beaches, public parks, forests, and in the exterior surroundings of certain public places for collective use, especially schools.

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[1] David Cornock, Government considering pub garden smoking ban, BBC, published 29 August 2024, accessed the same day