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Health Bill

moved Amendment No. 16:"After Clause 6, insert the following new clause—" ““DURATION OF SECTION 6 (1)   The provisions of section 6 shall remain in force until three years after their commencement and shall then expire unless continued in force by an order under subsection (2). (2)   The Secretary of State may by order provide— (a)   that all or any of those provisions which are in force shall continue in force for a period not exceeding twelve months from the coming into operation of the order; or (b)   that all or any of those provisions which are for the time being in force shall cease to be in force. (3)   No order shall be made under subsection (2) unless a draft of the order has been laid before and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.”” The noble Earl said: My Lords, Amendment No. 16 returns us to the question that we debated in Grand Committee of whether the perceived utility and benefit of having no-smoking signs displayed in all public buildings, workplaces, pubs, bars and restaurants are likely to remain constant or whether, over time, they are likely to diminish. I suggest that the latter is very much the case. Indeed, if we accept that there may be an initial case for signage of this kind—although personally I do not—we should also recognise that after a period of time the burdens on business that it imposes will almost certainly no longer be justifiable. The Government’s arguments for making signage a legal requirement are that it will inform the public and make life easier for visitors to our country; it will help pub and club managers to avoid disputes on their premises; and it will help with enforcement. Frankly, we could apply those arguments to any area of the law we chose. The speed limit on motorways is 70 mph but we do not put up notices every few hundred yards reminding drivers of that. We do not put up speed-limit notices at all on most dual or single carriageways. Drivers are expected to know what the legal speed limit is. It might make life easier for tourists if we had such notices; it might help with resolving disputes; and it might help with enforcement. But, generally speaking, we accept that everyone should be aware of the law and that, correspondingly, ignorance of the law is no excuse. Signs of this sort are seen as being neither necessary nor appropriate. When the Bill was in its original form and it distinguished between pubs where smoking would still be allowed and pubs where it would not be allowed, there was certainly some merit in the idea of signage. Otherwise, anyone entering a pub could not have been expected to know what kind of pub it was. A similar argument applied to clubs. That argument falls away with the Bill as it now stands. All pubs, workplaces and enclosed places open to the public will be smoke-free. The situation is therefore very much simpler. I realise from our debates in Grand Committee that I am unlikely to persuade the Minister to do away with Clause 6 altogether. But, if I were in his shoes, I would do so without hesitation. The proposal is simply insane over-regulation, which takes no account whatever of the costs and burden to business. It does not begin to encourage people to stop and think about whether those burdens are proportionate to the risk of what the signage is trying to prevent, and it takes nannying to as yet unplumbed realms. We are talking not just of pubs, but of every public building in the land, and a great many types of vehicle used for business purposes. Pubs will be particularly hard hit, and I wonder whether the Minister is aware of the pub signage requirements that are currently in force. A pub by law must currently display its premises licence, details of the designated premises supervisor, price lists, weights and measures statutory notices, fire exits and tobacco signs on cigarette machines. It will shortly have to display signs on gaming machines. It is encouraged under codes of good practice to display signs about proof of age, drink-drive warnings, gaming machine warnings to minors, and warnings about the size of the head on keg beer. It is recommended good practice to display notices about avoiding rape, minding your head on the doorframe, minding your step, minding that no one spikes your drink, minding that no one steals your handbag, making clear that the taking of drugs is not tolerated on the premises, publicising crime stoppers, local taxi services, the time when the juke box is switched off, and requesting customers to please leave quietly. The list of pub signage is already very long. In aggregate it is exceedingly burdensome. To add another category of sign to those that are legal requirements will make the burdens even greater. If we multiply that across all offices, factories, public buildings and commercial vehicles, I do not think that the Government have demonstrated that it is a worthwhile burden for the business community to shoulder. That is why I am proposing that a sunset provision should be applied to Clause 6.