Govt spends £30m on smoke detectors
The government is providing £30 million in funding so councils will be able to send people out to check the smoking ban is being adhered to.
Council staff are currently being trained for the new role of ensuring restaurants, cafes, bars, and nightclubs stay smoke-free after July 1st.
And anyone caught smoking in an inappropriate place faces an on-the-spot fine of up to £50, while the owners of the business face fines of up to £2,500 if they do not enforce the ban.
The new council smoke detectors will be given the power to enter premises undercover and photograph and film people for evidence.
Council workers will be used to enforce the ban so police time is not used up.
The move was branded a “complete waste of public money” by campaign groups.
“The idea of getting public officials to snoop on people is distasteful and disproportionate,” said Simon Clark, director of smokers lobby group Forest.
“It is like taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Smokers will abide the law so it will be a complete waste of public money.”
A spokesman from the British Beer and Pub Association noted there have been just 11 fixed-penalty notices in Scotland in the last ten months, with many councils not having issued any.
The Bar Entertainment and Dance Association (BEDA) did not see the problem.
“BEDA has no problem with compliance with smoke free legislation and believes that for many operators the ban represents an opportunity,” it said in a statement.
However, it did advocate a less heavy-handed approach.
“One thing which is clear however is that the reason the ban worked so smoothly in Scotland is that they adopted a sensible, softly softly approach,” a spokesman said.
“Given that the Scottish experience has informed much of the advance policy from the government, it would not seem to make sense to then adopt a heavy-handed approach.”
“The licensed trade, as the government have acknowledged, continues to work constructively with the government on this issue – it would be unfortunate if these measures in any way soured the partnership which has already been established.”
