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ANNEX 8 PUBLIC OPINION BEFORE AND AFTER THE SMOKING, HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE (SCOTLAND) ACT 2005

Public opinion - Period Pre Smoking Ban in Public Places - 2004 Data

1. On 7 June 2004, The Scottish Government Health Department published a consultation document "Smoking in Public Places - A Consultation". The aim of the consultation was to obtain people's views on possible approaches to minimising the harm caused by second hand smoke. The consultation provided an open invitation to anyone who had an interest in this issue to give their views and the public consultation document was designed in a questionnaire format to enable the consultation to be as accessible as possible to a wide range of individuals who wished to make a response. A total of around 600,000 consultation questionnaires were distributed and 53,474 responses were submitted to the Scottish Government.

2. The consultation document set out the background to the consultation, highlighted the key topics for consideration and posed a series of questions to which respondents were invited to respond. The questions focused on 6 broad topic areas:

• Whether further action needs to be taken to reduce people's exposure to second-hand smoke
• Whether individuals would support a law that would make enclosed public places smoke-free
• Whether there should be any exemptions if a law is introduced
• What could be done to encourage individual businesses to take voluntary action to become smoke-free or to provide more smoke-free provision
• What else could be done to reduce people's exposure to second-hand smoke
• Details of any other views on smoking in public places

3. The results of the consultation showed that 80% of the consultation responses and 54% of opinion survey responses supported making all enclosed public places smoke-free. At that stage, despite this large scale support in the consultation responses for the ban, there was more reservation about exemptions:

" Majority (56%) of respondents did not think that there should be any exemptions if a law was introduced, 35% indicated that there should be, 5% didn't know and 4% did not reply. 24% of those who indicated that they would support a law were in favour of exemption"²⁹.

Period Post Smoking Ban in Public Places

4. Following on from the consultation in 2004, a series of MRUK omnibus surveys was conducted in May, August and November of 2005 and January, March, May and October 2006. This, in essence, tested opinion throughout a period during

which legislation was becoming, and then became a reality, rather than the 2004 consultation on the public's views on tackling the effects of second hand smoking, with legislation being posed as an option.

5. The final wave of the research in October 2006 tracked public opinion across the period. 1,040 interviews were conducted on that occasion and the sample selected to be geographically representative of the Scottish population, was split evenly across male and female respondents and a took spread of ages, making it broadly in line with the population in Scotland and had a mix of respondents from different socio-economic groups. A third of the sample were current smokers (34%), 45% were non-smokers and 21% said they used to smoke but had now stopped.

Public attitudes to smoking in public places - MRUK omnibus survey - October 2006 main findings³⁰.

Key findings

• Support for the smoking ban: Support for the smoke-free legislation increased to 70% in October 2006; between August 2005 and May 2006 support for the law was consistently between 58% and 61%. Non-smokers and ex-smokers were more likely to support the ban across the research. In October 2006, 91% of non-smokers and 80% of ex-smokers were in support of the legislation. However, increase in support was particularly marked amongst smokers, with 37% of smokers supporting the legislation in October 2006 (support among this group ranged between 19% and 33% in the previous 6 waves).
• Awareness of smoking ban: Awareness of the ban has been high throughout the research, growing from 95% prior to the ban (March 2006) to virtually all respondents in October 2006 (99%).
• Success of smoking ban: Between May and October 2006 there was an increase (from 73% to 77%) in the proportion of respondents who thought the legislation had been successful in making enclosed public places smoke free. Non-smokers and ex-smokers were more likely to consider the ban successful compared to smokers (80% and 71% respectively). However, the proportion of respondents who thought the legislation was unsuccessful dropped from 10% to 5% between May and October 2006.

Summary of main findings

Support for the smoking ban

• Support for the ban was attributed to a variety of factors including the cleaner air / environment (18%) and a dislike of smoking (16%). Health reasons were also considered a factor influencing respondents' support of the ban, although this reason became less prominent over more recent waves (12% in October 2006, 31% in August 2005 and 33% in May 2005).
• In October 2006, 23% of respondents (predominantly smokers) did not support the legislation. The main reasons identified for not supporting the ban were that they enjoyed smoking (23%) or because they/their partner smoked (16%). These reasons have been reiterated throughout the research findings. However, a notable difference across the research was the reduction in the proportion of respondents stating that smokers have the right to smoke in public places (39% in May 2005; 3% in October 2006).

Perceived impact of the legislation

• In each wave of research, respondents anticipated that the new legislation would impact on them in a variety of ways and would generally have a positive impact on their lives. For instance, 18% said the smoking ban would be better for people's health, while 12% said socialising would be more enjoyable as a result of the ban and 11% thought the ban would make environments safer and cleaner.
• Similarly to previous waves, non-smokers and ex-smokers were more inclined to perceive the ban on smoking to be better for health (23% and 24% respectively), compared to smokers (7%).

Perceived success of the legislation

• Success of the ban was largely ascribed to the following: cleaner environment in pubs, clubs and restaurants (15%); most people were seen to be abiding by the legislation (13%); and all public places being smoke free (20%).
• A higher proportion of those who considered the ban unsuccessful perceived there to be a detrimental impact on employment and revenue as a result of the ban (33% in October 2006, compared to 19% in May 2006). There was also an increase in the proportion who objected to smoking outside in October (20%) compared to May 2006 (2%), perhaps reflecting seasonal factors. Among this group, a less prominent perception was that the ban stopped people going out (4% in October 2006; 20% in May 2006).

Perceived impact on smoking behaviour: smokers only

• Across the waves of research, the majority of respondents who smoked thought the legislation would have no effect on the amount they smoke (69% in October 2006). In October 2006, 29% said the ban had helped them reduce the amount they smoke; this proportion had decreased slightly since May 2006 (35%). The figure for anticipated smoking reduction had varied throughout the research from 27% in November 2005 to 40% in March 2006.
• The majority of ex-smokers said the ban had not influenced them to give up smoking (93% in October 2006), with only 5% saying that the ban had some degree of influence on them. It is important to note that some ex-smokers may have stopped smoking prior to the ban.

Attitudes to the risks of passive smoking

• Throughout the seven waves of research, the majority of respondents have consistently agreed that action should be taken to reduce people's exposure to passive smoking/second hand smoke (73% in October 2006).

Household smoking policy

• Broadly consistent with recent waves of research, half of respondents said smoking was not permitted anywhere in the home. Across the surveys, the findings highlight that those in socio-economic group AB (57%) are significantly more likely to not allow smoking in the home compared to those from group E (29%).
• A quarter of respondents (26%) said smoking was permitted throughout their home. This figure has varied across the waves, ranging between 24% (March 2006) and 33% (November 2005). In October 2006, 23% of respondents said smoking was allowed in certain rooms; this figure is broadly consistent with previous survey findings.

Workplace smoking policy

• 46% of those respondents in employment reported that smoking was not permitted anywhere on their work premises, lower than in May 2006 (67%). However, a higher proportion reported that there were designated areas outside the premises (49% in October 2006 compared to 30% in May 2006).

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