---

Health Bill

My Lords, I am more than willing to oppose the Government at every suitable opportunity, but this is a case where I urge your Lordships to agree to what is now being proposed. I have had extensive discussions with the British Beer and Pub Association, which represents about 60 per cent of pubs and bars in the country. It is anxious to see two things, above all, as regards the smoke-free provisions of the Bill. The first is the publication of the draft regulations at the earliest possible opportunity. The association wants clarity about what is being proposed and a reasonable length of time in which to work with the Government to sort out any points of difficulty that may arise in the detail. The amendment is wholly conducive to that wish and, on that count, is to be welcomed. However, the second thing that the trade is anxious to see is a sensible and workable implementation date for the regulations. If it is to be a date in 2007, as the Government have previously indicated, there are several relevant points for consideration. The first is that, as we debated in Grand Committee, many pubs will wish to make provision for smokers by means of outside shelters which conform to the rules of what is deemed to be an unenclosed space. Many of these extensions and additions will require planning consent. It will be necessary to submit planning applications for that purpose and, alongside that, many pubs will also need to submit applications to vary the conditions of their licence. It is a fact that the smaller local authorities do not have the resources to deal with large numbers of applications at once, but 2007 brings added complications because, in the spring of that year, many areas of the country will have across-the-board local government elections. In those circumstances, next year no planning decisions will be taken from about the middle of March until the third or fourth week of May. If the pubs are to have a proper chance of having their planning and licensing applications considered and dealt with by the time the smoke-free regulations come into force, they need not only the earliest possible publication of the draft regulations but also a recognition that the time available in local planning departments in the first part of next year will be much reduced compared with normal. Indeed, prior to that, we need to remember that over Christmas many planning departments cease to function properly for the best part of a month. That is why I ask the Government to rule out any possible thought that the smoke-free regulations might be brought into force before July of next year. I seriously suggest that, if they are thinking of the end of May—one rumour that is going about—that is unreasonably early. If the draft regulations are not published until the late autumn or early winter of this year, then implementation at the end of May will mean an interval of seven or eight weeks in which pubs will need to draw up proposals, submit them and have them considered and dealt with. A date in July would provide a more workable interval, assuming early initial publication of the regulations, and I very much hope that the Government will agree to that.