Hansard

PE870 calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Executive not to implement the proposed ban on smoking in public places. Part 1 of the Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Bill, which was introduced on 16 December, would"prohibit smoking in certain wholly or substantially enclosed places … to which the public or a section of the public has access".The Health Committee published its stage 1 report on the general principles of the bill on 21 April. In relation to part 1, the committee concluded:"The majority of members, therefore, support the proposal contained in this part of the bill, believing that it will help to save lives."The Parliament will consider the bill at stage 3 on 30 June.We cannot do much with the petition. It was presented to us during the event that the committee held in Ayr and this is the first opportunity that we have had to include it on our agenda. The matter has been well aired in the Parliament and a decision will be made on Thursday, which the petition might or might not influence.