| Act of the Scottish Parliament | |
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| Long title | An Act of the Scottish Parliament to prohibit smoking in certain wholly or substantially enclosed places; to enable the Scottish Ministers by order to vary the minimum age limit of those to whom tobacco may be sold; to make provision in relation to general dental services, general ophthalmic services, personal dental services, pharmaceutical care services and detection of vision problems in children; to make provision in relation to disqualification by the NHS Tribunal; to enable the Scottish Ministers to establish a scheme for the making of payments to certain persons infected with hepatitis C as a result of NHS treatment and to certain persons infected with the virus by transmission of it from a person infected with it as a result of such treatment; to amend the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 as respects what constitutes an independent health care service, the implementation of certain decisions by the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care or the Scottish Social Services Council, the provision of information to the Council and the minimum frequency of inspection of care services by the Commission; to make provision providing further time for applications to be made for registration of child care agencies and housing support services under the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 and provide authorisation for the payment of certain grants to such services while not registered under that Act; to amend the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 as respects authorisation of medical treatment; to amend the Public Health (Scotland) Act 1897 to introduce a right of appeal in certain cases under that Act; to enable the Scottish Ministers to form, participate in and provide assistance to companies for the purpose of providing facilities or services for persons exercising functions under the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 or of making money available to the health service in Scotland; to amend the rules as to membership of and other matters relating to the Scottish Hospital Endowments Research Trust; and for connected purposes. |
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| Citation | 2005 asp 13 |
| Territorial extent | Scotland |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 5 August 2005 |
| Commencement | 26 March 2006 |
| Other legislation | |
| Relates to | Health Act 2006 |
Status: Amended | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Text of the Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk. | |
The Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005 (asp 13) is an act of the Scottish Parliament passed in 2005, after being introduced by Scottish Executive Health minister Andy Kerr.
Contents
The act established that, from 26 March 2006, it would be an offence to smoke in any wholly or substantially enclosed public space in Scotland, with a small number of exceptions, such as: prisons, care homes and police interview rooms. Private member clubs were not exempted. Hotel rooms could be designated by the proprietors as smoking rooms, but they were under no obligation to do so, and if they did not, the act applied to them as any other space.
It passed on 30 June 2005 with an 83 to 15 vote, with only the Scottish Conservatives opposing, and received royal assent on 5 August 2005.
Since the ban came into force on 26 March 2006, it has been largely accepted by the vast majority of the Scottish public. Compliance rates have been high, [1] and as of 14 June 2006, only one premises has been fined for permitting smoking, and that happened on the day the act came into being. Additionally, the Swallow Group of hotels, who had launched a legal challenge to the legislation, formally abandoned their attempt on 13 June 2006, after being advised that it would not succeed.
Cigarette litter continues to be a problem outside premises; especially bars and restaurants, and Environmental Health Officers have become more proactive in fining people dropping cigarette ends. Phone calls to Smokeline (a smoking support line run by NHS Health Scotland) increased before and after the ban and smoking cessation services have reported that their number of clients has increased since the ban came into force.[ citation needed ]
ASH Scotland [2] was one of the main campaigners for smoke-free legislation, and recognition of their role was confirmed when Maureen Moore (Chief Executive of ASH Scotland) received an OBE [ citation needed ] in June 2006 for services to healthcare.
Smoking in enclosed public spaces was later banned in England and Wales by the Health Act 2006, and in Northern Ireland by the Smoking (Northern Ireland) Order 2006.