Smokers in Milton Keynes could be impacted by a potential ban on smoking in pub gardens, which is currently under government consideration.
The proposed restrictions aim to further reduce tobacco use by extending outdoor smoking bans to pub gardens, sports venues, outdoor dining areas, and outdoor hospital grounds.
This ban is part of a stricter revision of the previous government's Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which seeks to ban the sale of tobacco products to anyone born on or after January 2009. During last month's State Opening of Parliament, The King’s Speech highlighted plans to reintroduce legislation to raise the legal smoking age.
According to The Sun, secret Whitehall documents confirm plans to extend the indoor smoking ban, despite some internal government opposition.
The Milton Keynes City Council 2024 Scrutiny Report found that an estimated 13.8% (30,200 residents) of the MK population are smokers. In April this year, all Local Authorities received additional Smoke Free Generation funding to for Stop Smoking Services in order to enable the City Council to expand the Stop Smoking and Tobacco Control service to achieve more quits.
On BBC Newsnight, Lord Stewart Wood, a former adviser to Labour's Gordon Brown, commented on the story, noting the distinction between smoking in isolated areas and in crowded public spaces. He said, “There's a difference between smoking outside and walking in a forest and smoking outside where there are large groups of people, particularly children, concentrated, like restaurants, like pub gardens, like football matches."
Although the Department of Health and Social Care declined to address the leaks, it confirmed that various measures are being considered to help make Britain smoke-free.
