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Health Bill

moved Amendment No. 24:"Page 3, line 28, leave out second ““to”” and insert ““unavoidably and not intermittently to significant quantities of””" The noble Lord said: With this amendment, it may be convenient to take Amendment No. 25 in the name of my noble friend. Basically, the smoke-free provisions of Clause 2 relate to enclosed or substantially enclosed premises. Smoking may thus take place in premises that are not enclosed or substantially enclosed. However, Clause 4 enables any place or description of place not being enclosed or substantially enclosed premises to be made smoke-free by regulations. The only proviso stated in subsection (3) is that persons present in places designated would be likely to be exposed to smoke. That proviso is virtually meaningless because it gives no idea of the extent to which persons are likely to be exposed to smoke. In Committee in the other place, the Minister stated that it is not intended to use Clause 4 in trivial situations. So either the clause needs to be more specific about the extent of the exposure to smoke or, if the Government presently intend to designate places as smoke-free which are not enclosed or substantially enclosed, Clause 2 needs to be amended to make provision for such places. Certainly, a blank cheque should not be sought through Clause 4. I beg to move.