Start date announced for Welsh smoking ban

The government and the Welsh Assembly have announced that regulations banning smoking in enclosed public spaces, including most workplaces, are to come into force in Wales and Northern Ireland on 2 April next year.

Tony Jewell, chief medical officer for Wales, said the ban would avert more than 400 deaths a year in Wales from lung cancer, chronic heart disease, stroke and respiratory disease.

Scotland introduced a similar ban in March this year; England will do so next summer, at a date yet to be specified. But the TUC has advised employers not to wait for a legal ban to come into force before negotiating a smoke-free workplace with union reps. A new reps' guide on the subject is now available at www.tuc.org.uk/h_and_s/tuc-12227-f0.pdf