Protect children from second-hand smoke:
Smoke-free Private Vehicles Amendment,
Children and Families Bill: briefing for MPs
Background
For over three years, the British Lung Foundation has been campaigning for legislation to
ban smoking in cars when children are present. On 29th January 2014 peers voted in favour
of an amendment to the Children and Families Bill at Report Stage that would allow the
Secretary of State to introduce such a ban. The amendment was voted through by 222
votes to 197, with twelve peers speaking in support. We very much hope that you will vote
in support of this amendment when it returns to the House of Commons for consideration.
This issue has had significant cross-party support in Parliament: an amendment that would
prohibit smoking in private vehicles with minors under 18 present was led at Committee
Stage of the Children and Families Bill by Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, with eight peers
from all political parties speaking in favour of a ban.
Previously, Lord Ribeiro has taken this issue to the Lords in the form of a Private Member’s
Bill, which was successfully passed in the Lords last summer. It was taken up in the
Commons by Alex Cunningham MP but lapsed due to timetabling issues. Alex Cunningham
MP also raised this issue in a Ten-minute Rule Bill during 2011. Although it did not receive
a second reading, the Bill was approved at first reading by 78 votes to 66 – a success
reflective of growing support amongst children, parents, the medical profession and
parliamentarians for legislation to protect children from passive smoke in cars.
Health dangers for children
Children are particularly vulnerable to second-hand smoke, as they have smaller lungs,
faster breathing and less developed immune systems, which make them more susceptible
to respiratory and ear infections triggered by passive smoking.1
Smoking near children can cause a range of respiratory illnesses such as asthma, bronchitis
and reduced lung function. Passive smoking results in more than 165,000 new episodes of
disease of all types amongst children, 300,000 primary care consultations, 9,500 hospital
admissions and around 40 sudden infant deaths each year. This comes at a total cost of
more than £23 million per year in primary care visits, asthma treatment and hospital
admissions in the UK.2
The extent of the problem
The particular harm that passive smoke causes to children’s health is well documented.
Although members of the public are protected by smoke-free legislation in public
transport and in work vehicles, large numbers of children remain exposed to high
concentrations of second-hand smoke when confined in family cars.
In a 2010 survey of children aged 11 to 15, around one child in five reported often being
exposed to second-hand smoke in cars.3 Based on results from a 2012 survey of over 7,000
children aged 11-15, the BLF calculated that around 185,000 children are exposed to
cigarette smoke in their family cars ‘every day or on most days’, whilst around 430,000
children travel in smoky cars at least once a week.4
Children are often not sufficiently aware of the dangers or do not feel able to influence
the smoking behaviour of those around them. In a 2011 BLF survey, of those children who
had been exposed to second-hand smoke in the car, only 31% reported having asked
those smoking to stop, with 34% not asking because they were too frightened or
embarrassed.5
A growing consensus
Over the past three years, there has been a growing support amongst children, parents,
the medical profession and parliamentarians for legislation to protect children from
passive smoke in cars.
•
In a BLF survey in 2011, 86% of children said that they want action to be taken to
protect them from cigarette smoke when they are in the car. 6
•
In a BLF-commissioned survey of more than a thousand parents using
Mumsnet.com, 86% of respondents supported a ban - including 83% of respondents
who were themselves smokers.7
•
A growing number of health organisations have called for legislation to address
the issue of passive smoke in cars, including the Royal College of Paediatrics and
Child Health, the Royal College of Physicians and the Chartered Institute of
Environmental Health.
Is this the first step towards banning smoking in homes?
Some opponents of the proposed ban on smoking in cars with children argue that a vehicle
is a private space and that if a ban is introduced in cars then it will only be a matter of
time before legislation would be extended into homes. This is not the case, and we
believe that the two are not comparable.
Second-hand smoke exposure is much more dangerous in a car as the space is significantly
more confined than that of a home, thus enabling smoke concentration to reach higher
levels.
Furthermore, a child finding himself in a smoky home has the option of going into another
room – a choice not available to a child who is strapped into the back seat of a car.
Unlike most adults, children lack the freedom to decide when and how they travel, lack
the knowledge about quite how harmful second-hand smoke can be, and lack the authority
most adults have to ask people not to smoke in their company. It is therefore right the
Government should legislate to protect them where they are unable to protect
themselves.
•
Research has shown that a single cigarette smoked in a moving car with the
window half open exposes a child in the centre of the back seat to around two
thirds as much second-hand smoke as in an average smoke-filled pub. Levels
increase to over eleven times those of a smoky pub when the cigarette is smoked in
a stationary car with the windows closed.8
Could such a law be enforced?
This is an enabling amendment that gives the Secretary of State for Health the power to
introduce a ban on smoking in cars when children are present. We would suggest that that
specific details of how such a ban should be implemented will need to be considered
further in order to reach a cross party consensus on the best approach.
Evidence from Australia, where similar bans are already in place, suggests that it is
enforceable. A ban could be enforced though opportunistic policing, in the same way that
existing laws about child car seats, smoking in a work vehicle, or not wearing a seatbelt
are enforced. However, this law is not designed to turn smokers into criminals, it is about
protecting children by bringing about a change in smoking behaviour.
Legislation together with awareness-raising to change behaviour
The BLF welcomes the Government’s past and upcoming marketing campaigns, which seek
to reduce children’s exposure to second-hand smoke in cars and homes, by warning
parents of the dangers of smoking in front of their children and offering free smoke-free
kits. Awareness-raising is a positive move in addressing this critical issue and we continue
to encourage action to protect as many children as possible from the dangers of secondhand smoke in cars. However, the BLF believes that awareness-raising alone is not enough
to address this problem.
Evidence suggests that educational campaigns in this area are most effective in
changing behaviour when accompanied by legislation. Efforts to encourage seatbelt use
in cars were most successful when legislation was introduced. Seatbelt wearing rates
increased in the UK from 25% to 91% after legislation was introduced alongside awareness
campaigns.9
An inquiry into smoking in private vehicles by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on
Smoking and Health in 2011 concluded that the evidence from smokefree public places is
that legislation will also be necessary to reduce exposure to cigarette smoke in cars.10
This is a key child protection issue. Children should be protected as far as possible from
the avoidable dangers that tobacco smoke presents to their health and well-being.
Action has been taken to protect children’s health in a number of other countries.
Smoking in cars carrying children is already prohibited in 4 US states, 10 of 13 Canadian
provinces, 7 of 8 Australian states, and in five countries, including South Africa and
Cyprus.
Domestically, the Welsh Assembly has committed to considering legislation if its
educational campaign has not succeeded within three years; the Northern Ireland
Executive is due to consult formally on options around banning smoking in private
vehicles; and Scotland’s Jim Hume MSP is in the process of introducing a Private Members
Bill to ban smoking in cars with minors under 16 years old, following a three-month
consultation in 2013.
How you can help
•
Vote in support of the amendment to ban smoking in cars carrying children when it
returns to the House of Commons for consideration.
The BLF is happy to provide face-to-face briefings and additional briefing materials on this
issue. For further information please contact Tamara Sandoul on
[email protected].
About us
One person in five in the UK is affected by lung disease with millions more at risk. The
British Lung Foundation (BLF) is the UK’s lung charity and we are here for every one of
them, whatever their condition. Lung disease can be frightening and debilitating. We offer
hope and support at every step so that no one has to face it alone. We promote greater
understanding of lung disease and we campaign for positive change in the nation’s lung
health. We fund vital research, so that new treatments and cures can help save lives.
Organisations supportive of this briefing:
British Medical Association
Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
Royal College of Physicians
Tobacco Free Futures
National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training
Faculty of Public Health
Cancer Research UK
British Heart Foundation
Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation
ASH Wales
ASH Scotland
ASH Northern Ireland
Cancer Focus Northern Ireland
Smokefree Yorkshire and the Humber
FRESH – Smoke-free North East
References:
1
Annual report of the Chief Medical Officer 2002. Department of Health, 2003
All references in paragraph: Passive smoking and children: A report by the Tobacco Advisory
Group. Royal College of Physicians, 2010.
3
19% in survey of 6971 boys and girls aged 11-15. Smoking, drinking and drug use among young
people in England in 2010. NHS Information Centre, 2010
4
Data sources for prevalence stats: Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use Among Young People in
England (2012). Table 2.12 shows the frequency of exposure to second-hand smoke in the last year,
by age, for all pupils, excluding those who stated ‘don’t know’. Six per cent of pupils aged between
11 and 15 said that they were exposed to second-hand smoke in their family car every day or most
days. An additional eight per cent of pupils aged between 11 and 15 said that they were exposed to
second-hand smoke in their family car once or twice a week. Applying these data to Office for
National Statistics Mid-2012 Population Estimates for England data on the overall population size
for children aged 11-15, provides the figures of children who are exposed to second-hand smoke in
their family cars most days and at least once a week.
5
BLF/ TNS survey of more than 1,000 children aged 8-15, conducted 20-27 January 2011
6
BLF/ TNS survey of more than 1,000 children aged 8-15, conducted 20-27 January 2011
7
BLF online survey of 1,020 people through Mumsnet, conducted 29 April-6 May 2010; 127
respondents reported to being current smokers
2
8
Sendzik, Fong, Travers, Hyland, An experimental investigation of tobacco smoke pollution in cars, Nicotine
Tob Res, 2009; 11(6):627-34
9
Seat-belts and child restraints. World Health Organisation/ FIA Foundation, 2009
10
Inquiry into smoking in private vehicles. All-Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health, 2011