Reports in the media have suggested that the Government is looking at reviewing the smoking ban this summer amid claims it is ‘crippling Britain's £6billiona-year pub and bingo industry. Details suggest that this issue is being taken seriously and there maybe further changes ahead.

The smoking ban introduced in 2007, after a number of years of planning and consultation as expected had some effects on leisure entertainment with the likes of bingo clubs and pubs being worst hit.

Over the last three years roughly 130 bingo clubs have closed which is around 20 percent and according to the Beer Pub Association, currently around 39 pubs close per week and in 2009 2365 pubs in total closed with a loss of 24,000 jobs in the sector. In 2005 there were 58,600 pubs and there are currently 52,500 a decline of just over 10%.

How real are the such claims or is it just poor management?

It has been suggested that such stats are what has triggered the review for this summer and a number of figures are trying to gain support for the issue. Before we get into a debate on whether the smoking ban in pubs and bingo clubs was right, let’s not forget this review has nothing to do with the above stats. At the time the Health Bill was unveiled in October 2005 MPs were told that a review would take place 3 years after the smoking ban came into effect.

“We will monitor the impact from day one, and we will have a full review at the end of three years,” The health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, told MPs at the parliamentary select committee on health.

In regards to the number of pubs that have closed it would appear that over 3 years the industry has seen a decline of just over 10% (6100). Considering that you would expect those that closed purely as a result of the smoking ban would have closed within 12-18 months, 2365 closures in 2009 are more than likely the result of the recession than the effects of the smoking ban. It is also worth noting that prior to the ban there was a natural decline in pubs due to both the oversupply, the competitive nature of supermarkets and the increase of alternative forms of leisure with the emphasise on health. In recent years the emergence of trendy little bars that don’t sell draught beers is significant and very popular with the younger generation. Over the last 10 years popularity of festival goers where temporary bar stands are set up will have also had a significant effect. While no expert these start-ups would appear to be excluded from the figures! Given the natural closures, and the recession closures associated with the smoking ban is possible only around 5% and that excludes start-up and temporary venues as we are unable to quantify these. Not exactly a significant amount in the last 3 years.

Reports suggest that during the period 20% percent of bingo clubs have closed. Bingo has been in decline for many years now and there are only so many admissions you can lose before clubs have to close. Since the late 1990s bingo operators have benefited from a number of years of deregulation that have allowed them greater freedom to make more money out of customers. These have included the abolishment of charging periods (when customers cold only spend so much in for example 2 hours), abolishment of advertising rules and the 24hr rule where members had to wait to join a club, allowing operators to have both jackpot and fruit machines, increase in link game limits, abolishment of tax on players stakes, rules relating to prize bingo etc. The reality has been that many operators have been greedy, players have declined but over the last 10 years operators have had a strategy of taking more money off fewer players to the point where it has became form of entertainment that many people couldn’t really afford! It’s no mystery that over the last 10 years, with the ability to get credit so easily and freely people have been living beyond their means. We are in the middle of the biggest world recession as a result of just that single factor and without a doubt greed over the last 10 years as a whole is the biggest reason as to why bingo clubs have suffered the decline they have. I have visited several bingo operators recently that have NOT had to close or sell any of their bingo clubs, and admissions over the last few years are at worst ‘slightly down’. As we have reported on numerous occasions other bingo companies in the UK have seen 50% of their business disappear in the last few years. I recall in 2006 sitting down with an MD of one of the larger independent bingo companies while he tried to convince me that the way forward was electronic bingo, where customers sat ‘at a terminal’ and could play bingo, fruit machines, cash bingo, order waiter service and would never have to leave their seats. I remember arguing why the customer would even come to the bingo club at that point. At the time there was a big fear about the effects of the online bingo competition, but still some companies were eager to ‘push’ customers into this virtual world and remove the ‘social interaction’. The competitive advantage and key fundamentals of bingo are simple, ‘low stakes for high prizes in a highly social environment’. Since the late 1990s the overall cost of an evening at bingo rose greatly, the percentage return to the customer was reduced and the social emphasise of many clubs was greatly reduced as many operators tried to ‘squeeze in’ extra games. The smoking ban is more than likely the ‘straw that broke the camels back’ and operators may have themselves to blame for short term goals.

The nationwide smoking ban has triggered the biggest fall in smoking ever seen in England, a report released just a year after the ban indicated. More than two billion fewer cigarettes were smoked and 400,000 people quit the habit during the first year, which researchers say will prevent 40,000 deaths over the next 10 years.

Despite a prolonged political battle that split the Government and inflamed critics of Britain as a nanny state longer term opposition to the ban never materialised: more than three out of four people support the law, and compliance has been virtually 100 per cent. Five years after the legislation and three years into the ban it is very unlikely that new legislation will benefit bingo club and pub operators. In fact there is a real possibility that the situation could become worse as the Government has set targets of reducing the number of smokers in England to 1 in 10 and there are suggestions the review could lead to further restrictions whereby there will be no smoking in beer gardens or any part of public premises.

Time for a change in the legislation?

In light of the forthcoming review a number of figures are lobbying the Government to have the smoking ban laws changed in favour of smoking in designated areas.

Tory MP Brian Binley, of the Parliamentary Save the Pub Group, wants the review to include an independent study on the impact of the "draconian" ban. He commented: "It's crazy that pub-goers are forced to stand outside."

The newly re-elected All Party Parliamentary Save the Pub Group vice chairman and MP for Northampton South wants the law to be changed to allow smoking in separate well-ventilated rooms. Coming up to the review this summer he plans to push his campaign.

“The way Parliament handled the situation for pubs and clubs was draconian, crude and crass,” said Binley, who is a non-smoking asthmatic.

“You only have to look at these shanty town lean-tos in rural areas to know there is sizable damage being done to pubs. It’s just crazy and a rather crude answer to the problem."

While he claims to understand the health implications of smoking indoors, he suggests that advanced extraction systems were capable of dealing with second hand smoke.

Mr Mulholland, chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Save the Pub Group, said while smoking had serious health implications there was a need for a balance to be struck between protecting the rights of non-smokers and the rights of adults who choose to smoke.

Paul Talboys, of the Bingo Association has also made himself heard: "Half of our customers smoke so we've been badly hit. We're not anti the ban but think there are better ways of implementing it."

Studies that are likely to impact the future laws

The government have spent considerable amounts of money reviewing the legislation and while the findings are yet to be released under the Freedom of Information we are aware of the direction of the research and status of each

Impact of smokefree legislation in England on individuals and communities: qualitative longitudinal study.

Cost: £460,000

Status: complete

Bar Workers’ Health and Environmental Tobacco Smoke Exposure (BHETSE)

Cost: £220,000

Status: complete

Evaluating the impacts of smokefree legislation using secondary data

Cost: £220,000

Status: Ongoing

Smokefree - feasibility study - secondary analysis of data relating to the hospitality sector

Cost: £47,000

Status: Ongoing

Given the health risks associated with the smoking and the emphasise of the Government in relation to the research being carried there is no chance that we will be back tracking on this issue. The number of European countries that have already either a full ban or part ban in relation to smoking in public places:

Irish Republic, Northern Ireland, England, Scotland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Hungary, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Slovenia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Spain, Portugal, France, Austria, Greece, Malta, Italy and Cyprus

No doubt the European Union will be adding to the legislation in the near future. Rather than raising the issue and continually blaming the results on the smoking ban it is time both the pub and bingo industry moved on.

Several bingo customers I spoke to this morning all who smoke claimed that it hadn’t made any difference to the amount they played bingo. While it is not so nice having to go outside for a smoke, sometime it is social able one of the ladies claimed. All 4 ladies stated they wouldn’t want to go back to how it was before. Most of the time when it was there were a lot of people smoking it made your eyes sore and you couldn’t breath. One of the ladies said that her sister couldn’t come to bingo before the smoking ban as she suffered with her breathing.

UPDATE..... see comments below

Thank-you for your comments. In relation to the effects on pubs clearly many of you have a good knowledge of the situation. In addition there will be reports in favour and against the ban.

The comments made by HairyChestnuts in relation to the research being carried out by the Government are not surprising, but does that not back up what I said in that the review this summer is not going lead to the ban being changed? The Government along with the majority of people it represents is in favour of smoking ban.

In relation to Al. You are clearly very passionate about the subject. You mention poor management occurring at the same time as the smoking ban took effect. Well I would suggest that it is a lack of adaption to the environmental changes that the industry operate. You mention 'choice' Surely non-smokers should have a choice. It has been suggested that the majority of people are in favour of the smoking ban, so in fairness as a nation we have made a choice - I don't see a big revolt against the Governments choice! You suggest the recession has nothing to do with the pub closures well given the figures presented by Dave in his comments the greatest number of pubs closed as the recession kicked in (e.g. 2009).

Moving onto the figures presented by Dave Atherton - thank-you for providing them. Clearly the worst case scenario presented by the British Beer and Pubs Association is that in 3 years since the ban we have seen less than 11% of pubs close. I am suggesting if you take account of the article comments that the true figure is 5% at tops. I would add that I visited two bars this evening that were not members of the British Beer and Pubs Association, which by its own comments, only accounts for around half of the pubs in the UK. It might be added that on different pages they quote different numbers for the current number of pubs in the UK (e.g. About Us page suggest there are currently 54,000 pubs - how many have actually closed?) Dave also mentions that in Ireland where the ban has now been operating for 6 years the number of pubs lost is between 33% and 50%. Well firstly if we except the decline in England in real terms is roughly 5% after 3 years this is not that significant. We are not likely to see 28%-45% of pubs close in next 3 years are we. Clearly for one the figures quoted in Ireland are part of a scare tactic which when looked at properly are somewaht flawed and actually support the comments I made in the article. As mentioned the majority of the impact would have been seen in the first 18 months. Bloomberg suggests the bad news in Ireland is more to do with the recession "In a country famed for its pub culture, the industry is mirroring the rise and fall of Irish fortunes." The trusted financial news site suggests that in the 1990s the Irish pub industry boomed as the economy boomed and as the country is now in a crisis so is the pub industry. In another article Bloomberg reports: "Irish consumers are reining in spending as the economy experiences the worst recession in its history. Some 43 percent of pubs have had to reduce their opening hours due to a slowdown in business.......Rural pubs seem to be suffering the most and those pubs which relied on tourism trade are also well down,”

One of the points I would make is that from time to time there is a need to change. There are many bars and pub that I visit that have a number of special nights on to ensure they keep their customers. Rather than moan about a smoking ban why not put the effort into making it more attractive to customers. We are currently setting up a physical and online shop that would certainly be of interest to bars, clubs and those in the bingo industry. Races nights, football cards and bingo sessions are some of the new ideas that are becoming popular with operators that are looking outside the box.

For clarification I am for the smoking ban. Up until a year ago I had smoked for 16 years. I was for the smoking ban from the day it was suggested. There is nothing worse than being in a club where it is that smoky your eyes water or you feel like you are smoking with every breath. The smell of smoke on your clothes or stale smoke is not that pleasant either.