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Manchester one of five councils to ban smoking outside restaurants and pubs
Five more councils have joined Oxfordshire in the bid to make the UK ‘smoke free’ by 2030
At least five councils in the UK have banned smoking in pavement dining areas outside pubs, bars and restaurants, and a sixth could soon follow, according to reports this morning.
The local authorities, which includes Manchester City Council, have begun including the rules in their licensing agreements for establishments applying to place table and chairs outdoors.
While smoking in outdoor seating areas has already been prohibited in the last year as part of Covid-19 regulations, these new bans have come as the government attempts to make the country ‘smoke free’ within the decade.
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All five councils are in England’s North; Manchester, North Tyneside, Durham, Newcastle, and Northumberland will be banning smoking on the pavements where outdoor hospitality venues have tables, the Guardian reports.
The councils have already begun stipulating smoke-free pavement drinking and dining rules in the past year, according to their licensing conditions.
This comes just days after it was announced that Oxfordshire would be the first county to enforce the ban.
The plan was agreed by public health officials before the pandemic began in February last year, and is now being implemented as lockdown begins to ease.
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Oxfordshire’s policy document says ‘reducing the visibility of smoking’ will make it seem more abnormal, so children are less likely to start.
It adds: “By compelling smokers to remove themselves from defined areas to smoke, there is increased chance that they will consider stopping.”
In 2019, the government first announced a new ambition to make England ‘smoke-free’ by 2030. Smoke-free status is officially recognised by the Government when 5% or less of an area’s population are smokers.
Commuters could be facing the steepest rise in the cost of train travel in more than a decade just months after prices were already increased.
It has been predicted today that train prices across England and Wales could rise by nearly 5% before the New Year.
The 2021 rise in prices was delayed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic when train travel was at an all-time low, however, tickets still saw a price rise of 2.6% in March.
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And this morning, the Retail Prices Index for July 2021 was confirmed as 3.8% by the Office for National Statistics, meaning passengers could see fares rise by 4.8% in 2022, which would be the largest hike since 2012.
This means that the cost of rail travel could increase twice within ten months, and would see a Manchester-Glasgow off-peak return rise by £6.30 to £94.90, according to Metro.
Though all hope isn’t yet gone – changes to the fares in 2022 are still yet to be confirmed.
Jon David Houghton / Wikimedia Commons
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “No decision has been made on national rail fares.
“The government is considering a variety of options and we will announce our decision in due course.”
This news has come as train travel in Manchester and beyond is on the rise – earlier this month, we reported that zero cases of Covid were found in Manchester Piccadilly Train Station, despite thousands of commuters using the station’s services as offices reopen.
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