Nightclub smoking areas could be banned in England under new government proposal

Leaked UK Government documents have revealed proposed plans to extend the indoor smoking ban to areas outside nightclubs, pubs, restaurants and football stadiums, among other venues.

If pushed through, the ban would spell the end of smoking in outdoor nightclub smoking areas, as well as in pub gardens. Ministers are considering this action in an effort to curb the uptake of smoking and vaping, especially among young people, but figures within the hospitality sector argue that a ban could adversely affect their businesses.

“This needs to be thought through very carefully before we damage businesses and economic growth and jobs,” Kate Nicholls, chief executive of trade group UK Hospitality, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this week. Speaking to The Guardian, she added: “You only have to look back to the significant pub closures we saw after the indoor smoking ban to see the potential impact it could have.”

The ban would be part of a wider series of measures planned as part of a bill around tobacco and vaping, with a view to gradually making all smoking illegal by prohibiting the sale of tobacco and vapes to people born in or after January 2009. This was an idea first put forward by the previous Conservative Government run by Rishi Sunak, but which has now been taken up by Keir Starmer’s Labour Government.

As measures around public health are devolved across the UK nations, the measures would apply only to England. The other UK nations would be allowed to decide if they wanted to follow suit with the plans.

When pressed publicly on reports, Starmer did not rule out a ban on smoking in nightclub smoking areas and pub gardens. Referring to the deaths caused by smoking, he said: “That is a preventable death; it’s a huge burden on the NHS and, of course, it is a burden on the taxpayer. So, yes, we are going to take decisions in this space, more details will be revealed, but this is a preventable series of deaths and we’ve got to take action to reduce the burden on the NHS and the taxpayer.”

Full plans for the outdoor smoking ban are likely to change following consultations, but it’s understood that many figures within Starmer’s Labour cabinet are in favour of such measures.