Six months after legislation was introduced banning smoking in workplaces, public buildings and vehicles, officers at Amber Valley Borough Council have reported that, in line with the country as a whole, 97% of premises within the Borough are complying with the new smoke free legislation.
Between July and October 2007 Council officers carried out inspections at 548 premises, and made a further 275 visits to provide advice and guidance on what businesses need to do to comply with the legislation.
Steve Haslam, Regulation Manager at Amber Valley Borough Council, said: “Our approach to enforcement has always been non-confrontational, focusing on raising awareness and providing guidance to ensure compliance. We aim to ensure that businesses fully understand their responsibilities under the new legislation, and to provide advice on issues such as displaying the correct signage and gaining planning permission for smoking shelters.
“So far we’ve had a really positive feedback from the licensing trade, and have only encountered problems at very small number of premises. We’ve recently witnessed an increase in the number of complaints we’ve received about establishments allowing customers and staff to smoke on the premises, especially later in the evening – effectively a late night ‘smoke-in’. Our officers have been following up these complaints and visiting premises at night to check they are complying with the legislation.
“The new legislation is designed to protect people against the health risks caused by secondhand smoke, and therefore we take any breaches of the law extremely seriously. In such cases our officers will carry out appropriate enforcement action, which may include written warnings, fixed penalty notices or prosecution. If anyone has any concerns that the law is being broken we would urge them to contact us, so that we can investigate the matter further.”
If you run a business and would like advice or guidance on any aspect of the smoke free legislation please contact Amber Valley Borough Council on 01773 841397 to arrange a visit from our Smoke Free Co-ordinator.
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For more information contact Lisa Garnham, PR and Communications Manager at Amber Valley Borough Council, on 01773 841655 or email lisa.garnham@ambervalley.gov.uk
