Meeting of the Parliament 17 December 2015
I thank Mr Hume for that statistic. I think—he probably does, too—that the general public will accept the bill similarly to how they accepted the original ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces. The level of support for it is clear from survey evidence, and people understand the dangers not only to themselves but, in particular, to children.
I am aware that the Scottish Government, Police Scotland and the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland all supported the multimodel approach to enforcement in the belief that the bill would have more impact if that amendment were included. I am glad that that advice was listened to and the change was made.
We know that more than a fifth of our adolescents are exposed to second-hand smoke in cars and that similar legislation is already in place in Australia and Canada and is working well. France introduced a ban in the summer, and England and Wales enforced one at the beginning of October.
It is also clear that the bill is likely to be popular with the Scottish public. The Health and Sport Committee found that 93 per cent of the respondents to their call for written evidence supported the bill’s general principles, and a YouGov survey that was commissioned by ASH Scotland found that 85 per cent of adults and 72 per cent of adult smokers supported the introduction of a ban on smoking in vehicles carrying children.