Prohibiting smoking outside hospital buildings: Consultation

Overview

The consultation seeks views on details of proposals to introduce offences for smoking or permitting others to smoke outside hospital buildings. The Health (Tobacco, Nicotine etc. and Care) (Scotland) Act 2016 provides for offences, defences, penalties and fines in respect of smoking outside hospital buildings. The consultation will seek views on details around this including the distance from a hospital building which will form the no-smoking area, whether overhanging structures should be included in that area, the wording of signs, whether any buildings should be exempted, if only buildings used wholly or partly as hospitals should be included, if pathways should be included, if people should be permitted to use Nicotine Vapour Products (NVPs) and whether any particular groups will be disproportionately impacted.

Why your views matter

Although the introduction of no-smoking areas, fines and penalties for smoking or permitting others to smoke outside hospital buildings are now in law, the size and placing of no-smoking areas and the wording of signs has still to be set out in legislation. The consultation provides an opportunity for those affected to provide their views on the details of these aspects so that legislation can be made on these.

World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

As a party to the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), Scotland has an obligation to protect the development of public health policy from the vested interests of the tobacco industry. To meet this obligation, we ask all respondents to disclose whether they have any direct or indirect links to, or receive funding from, the tobacco industry. We will still carefully consider all consultation responses from the tobacco industry and from those with links to the tobacco industry and include them in the published summary of consultation responses.

Read the consultation paper.