SmokeFree

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Thank you very much Krishnan, and I'm very pleased people have made it here today. We're holding a whole host of different events, nationally, but also encouraging things to happen at a local level as well, to try and ensure that we really have a success on day one of the legislation coming into force on 1st July, and that it continues to be successful as the legislation beds in.

This is a very exciting time. We have some guests here today from Ireland and Scotland, but also some information we've had from New York about how we can make this happen to the best of our ability, working together.

This is a measure whose time has come. Clearly, when we started out with our proposals they were somewhat different to what we finally ended up with, but I think what we've got now is the best package. I think it does provide, in a regulatory sense, a simple but effective way forward, something that provides a level playing field. Clearly public opinion just keeps moving forward on this issue as more and more people expect to be able to play, work and enjoy their lives in a smokefree environment. And I've been greatly heartened by the number of businesses that have already gone smokefree. And I've told this tale a few times, but my husband's family is from Teeside, and when we were up there not so long ago, we drove past a pub that had a big sign outside, which said, ‘Tony, we're smokefree, we got there before you’, or words to that effect. People who want to go earlier than 1st July is great by us. We've all seen how the environment has changed on this: I remember going to the cinema where one part of the cinema was smokefree and one wasn't. I remember when smoking was permitted on the buses and on the tubes. So it's one of those issues where you really feel it has affected your life in one way or another. And for future generations it will be smokefree everywhere they go and this will become part and parcel of what they take for granted.

We know that the polls increasingly reflect support for restrictions on smoking, even amongst smokers, in the last year. If I had a pound for every smoker who has come up to me and said, ‘bring in that legislation, it's going to help me give up’, I'd be a rather richer woman than I am. It is important that whilst we recognise how crucial this legislation is, and what a contribution it can make, we can't be complacent about the support that smokers need to help them give up. That's why we have the services on the NHS, it's why we work with different organisations to support people who want to give up. Just as important of course is the work we need to do for the younger generation to encourage them not to start in the first place.

85,000 people die every year from smoking-related illnesses, lung cancer, respiratory illness and heart disease. We know there is a huge cost to the NHS alone of between 1.4 billion and 1.7 billion pounds a year. That doesn't even factor in the days lost at work through sickness caused through smoking, and that leading to illness resulting in people not going to work.

And we know that today, despite huge advances, only 51% of the workforce enjoy a totally smokefree working environment, with those in lower-skilled jobs most likely to be exposed to secondhand smoke at work than others. The scientific and medical evidence on secondhand smoke has become completely clear. Secondhand smoke kills. As I said, it causes a range of serious medical conditions, lung cancer, heart disease, but also it contributes to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, more commonly known as Cot Death, too. So again, whilst the legislation is really important, there's a lot more work we need to do to raise the awareness of this, because clearly people need to be conscious about the issues of secondhand smoke in their own private space as well, which this legislation doesn't extend to.

So I'm really proud of this legislation. I have to say, probably more than anybody in the country, I have gone through every single scenario, in every single situation, from discussions about the oboe teacher, and what will happen when he has his lessons at home, and takes students there, to vehicle situations. When we originally had the situation where we were going to allow smoking to continue in non-food establishments various scenarios came up. Such as, what happens if somebody sets up a cabin outside the pub? Does it extend to people who buy the food outside and then bring the food inside? To discussions about whether pork scratchings was a food, compared to shepherd's pie? I'm really glad that today I don't have to make that decision, because we created, as you know, a much clearer definition about the places that should be smokefree. And it was a free vote, with a majority of 200 in the House of Commons on Valentine's Day last year, and many issues were aired in a public debate. I think that's pretty healthy, actually, for democracy in action. And people like Professor Alex Markham, of Cancer Research UK, and others, have indicated that this is the most important advance in public health since Sir Richard Doll identified that smoking causes lung cancer, 50 years ago.

We'll not only be protecting people from the well-documented dangers of secondhand smoke, we hope to create an environment in which smokers will find it easier to give up. We know 70% of smokers do want to quit. They don't always quit the first time. It is very difficult. It is an addiction, which we've tried to convey in our recent Hook campaign adverts. But for people who choose to quit, we offer them support in many different ways, including through our NHS Stop Smoking Services.

The benefits of introducing smokefree legislation have already been seen in other countries. In New York, where smokefree law was introduced in March of 2003, exposure to secondhand smoke decreased by 50% overall. Just six weeks after the introduction of a smokefree policy in Ireland, hospitality workers experienced significant reductions in the levels of both air-borne pollutants and levels of carbon monoxide concentrations. And research by the University of Dundee found an immediate and positive impact on the health of bar staff following the introduction of the Scottish smoking ban in March of last year, and I'm hoping to go up to Scotland in the not too distant future to talk to and learn from colleagues there. The greatest improvement was the quality of life among those with asthma, and what really struck me during the debates of last year, especially with discussions with Asthma UK, was the number of people who suffer from asthma in various degrees who basically stop doing things in their life because they're worried about exposure to secondhand smoke. And, for those people who are in the licensed trade, there are opportunities here for a whole new group of people who might think that going out and having a drink, in moderation, is actually not a bad thing to do, because they don't have to worry about that exposure any more.

It's been an incredible journey, but we all know how much more work we have to do. We've already started mailing businesses in particular, and 700,000 businesses have already received an introductory mailing. We particularly focussed there on licensed businesses, but also some of the small and medium-sized businesses, who may not be as aware of the changes that are coming forward as we might want. So the work has started. This event helps us to think about whether we're getting it right, what more we need to do, but also it's helping you, and the people in the organisations you represent to understand how you can make this as smooth as possible. The strap line is smokefree. We want it to be seen as something positive and I think there's a lot of opportunities at a local level, with local authorities and others, to make this a fun event. And I think, in that way, we can see this as rather a liberating exercise, rather than one which is about things like banning and stopping and so forth.

You'll see from the attendance list we've spread our net very wide, and I hope if the weather permits that more will join us later on. We have, as I said before, colleagues from Ireland and Scotland to share their experiences too. We have Kathleen Quinlan of the Office for Tobacco Control, Eddie Cassidy of the Trade Union Mandate, and John Power of the Irish Hotels Federation, and from Scotland, Rory MacKail of the Federation of Small Businesses, and Andrew McPherson, who is Head of Planning Environmental Control at North Lanarkshire Council. We've also got a number of people from the Department of Health and the Smokefree England team. Again, we want to make this as interactive as possible, and if there's anything outstanding you would like to ask at the end of the day, please don't hesitate to get in touch with us.

We must not underestimate the scale of the task at hand. 3.7 million businesses, including nearly 200,000 pubs, bars and restaurants and other leisure outfits have to get ready for these new laws. Without taking anything away from my colleagues in Scotland and Ireland, it is the single biggest smokefree legislation implementation challenge yet seen around the world. So thank you very much for taking the time to come today. Thank you very much in advance for all your help. 23rd March is the 100-day countdown. I'm wondering if I should be outside DH with one of those calendars, taking off the day every morning as we go forward. It is in all our interests, over the next five months, to make sure that no one will be able to say they didn't know about the legislation and why it has been introduced, but more importantly, to make it possible with the least number of problems as possible. You are all making a very important contribution to a healthier future for your customers, for your employees, and for yourselves. Thank you.

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