Last September, Caterer launched a Stub Out Smoking campaign calling for an outright ban on smoking in the workplace.

Our stance was backed by new research which showed that 95% of respondents (in our online survey of 1,000 people) believed that working in a smoky atmosphere was damaging their health, while 87% would choose to work in a smoke-free environment.

More than half of those polled noticed unpleasant side-effects from inhaling other people's smoke at work, and nearly three-quarters (73%) believed an anti-smoking policy made a company a better employer.

Our strong stance was well received by readers, with thousands signing petitions asking the Government to commit to a total ban on smoking in the workplace. We delivered those petitions to the Department of Health in November last year, just before it brought out its white paper on public health.

But the white paper was seen as a fudge and it has been heavily criticised. Labour MP David Hinchcliffe, then chairman of the influential Select Committee on Health, said the proposals were naïve and unworkable, a view shared by British Hospitality Association.

Caterer is committed to lobbying for a complete ban on smoking in the workplace, and now we have the opportunity to help. The Government wants responses from those within the industry on its proposal to ban smoking in all restaurants serving food from 2008 and all pubs serving food from 2009.

We believe that different rules on smoking for different parts of the UK would create confusion and produce an uneven playing field for hospitality businesses. If you agree, write to us and explain why.

• Would a total ban on smoking be more beneficial to you and your businesses?
• Do you think a ban would improve your health and that of your staff, and is it unfair that hospitality staff should continue to be exposed when other professions aren't?
• Do you think a partial ban would be unworkable? And, do you agree that definitions of what constitute preparing and serving food are impossible to police and hard to classify?

We will compile a dossier of responses, which will be passed on to the Government before the consultation period ends on 5 September.

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