|
|
 |
Since the smoking ban was introduced just over a year ago (26th March 2006) it has been hailed as one of the most successful pieces of legislation introduced by the Scottish Parliament
Although the Scottish Licensed Trade Association claims there has been a 20 per cent drop in sales and some bar staff have lost jobs the benefits appear to outweigh the negatives.
Almost from the start of the ban the compliance rate among smokers and the managers of public venues was close to 100 per cent.
More than a year after the ban was imposed only one person has faced court action although 623 individuals and 31 premises in Scotland have been issued with fixed-penalty notices.
Proprietors of no-smoking premises face a fixed-penalty fine of £200 if they do prevent someone smoking or do not provide adequate no smoking signs. Individuals who smoke face a fixed-penalty fine of £50 and refusal to pay can result in prosecution and a fine of up to £2500.
However instead of disquiet many restaurants have reported increased customer satisfaction as a result of the ban.
“Business deals are no longer done in smoky back rooms but in the open in freshly aired restaurants and other public places,” said Amanda Kremer, Managing Director of Thrive for Business, one of the country’s leading networking organisations.
”When the ban first came in there were fears that it would be bad for business, people would stop going out to pubs or restaurants and it would be a social handicap because so many people smoked in Scotland.
”I am glad to say the reverse is true. More people are willing to go to pubs now and stay longer because they are not breathing in smoke or getting their clothes covered in the scent of stale tobacco.”
In addition the monitoring of staff traditionally required to work in smoke filled rooms has shown a clear improvement in health and even smokers themselves have accepted the ban cheerfully, with a third of them claiming it has helped them cut down.
In a country where 19 per cent of 15-year-olds smoke and an average of 13,000 Scots die every year from tobacco related illnesses the ban is regarded as having brought the biggest change to everyday life in Scotland for decades.
“The smoking ban has been a great success and I think everyone in Scotland should be proud of helping to make it work. This has been the public health triumph of a generation,” said Maureen Moore, Chief Executive of ASH Scotland.
One unexpected bonus of the smoking ban has been the huge savings to Scotland’s hotel industry. Every year careless smokers were responsible for destroying a large amount of bed linen as even the slightest burn mark forced hoteliers to throw away stained or damaged bedding. However since the smoking ban cam into force many hotels are reporting a financial saving on the amount of bedding lost to accidental damage.
”It has saved us a fortune in linen,” said Shahid Chaudhry, whose company owns The Osbourne Hotel in the centre of Edinburgh and McLays Guest House in Glasgow. ”In the past all it took was one careless guest to leave a burn make in a sheet or duvet and it had to be thrown out. We got through a lot of stuff that way – but no more. ”The smoking ban has been good for the hotel industry in Scotland. If the ban hadn’t been introduced when it was we would probably have imposed our own no-smoking policy.
September 2007
[Back]
|
|
