By James Rougvie

MOVES TO create the first smoking-free zone in the UK were launched in Dundee yesterday with the aim of banning smoking in every bar, club, shopping centre and shop—every enclosed space where the public gather.

The ambitious plan, “Smoke-Free Dundee” by 2007, coincided with the introduction of a Private Member’s Bill at Holyrood to ban smoking where food was being served.

Last month, the Scottish Executive announced a £7 million plan to cut the 13,000 deaths in Scotland each year caused by smoking and which also leans heavily in the direction of a ban on smoking in public places.

But while NHS Tayside has thrown its weight behind the proposals, the three local authorities in the area gently put the brakes on, saying that while they were supportive in principle, implementation was premature until the policies of the councils had been determined and the level of local support gauged.

In Dundee, which has been targeted because it has significantly higher smoking rates than the rest of the region, the local licensing board is already in some difficulties in attempting to persuade landlords to introduce no smoking rules for pubs with a children’s certificate.

How a blanket no smoking policy would play in the hundreds of pubs and bars in Dundee is difficult to guess.

Similar attempts in England have met with mixed results.

NHS Tayside’s consultant in health promotion Paul Ballard told the health improvement committee yesterday, “There is no better time in my view to go for this. We have one of the most conducive climates we have ever had to produce a smoke free agenda.”

He said that people were up for a change and they should grab the opportunity now.

“My vision of a smoke free Dundee is literally what it says, all public enclosed areas where the public congregate, shops, shopping centres, pubs, bars and night clubs, the lot.”

He said that the NHS could not go it alone and needed partnership with the local authorities to sort out the complexities and produce planning papers by the autumn of this year.

But while the councils were supportive, there was also caution.

Alex Stephen, chief executive of Dundee City Council, said his council had not yet debated the matter and it was too early to say what their policy would be, although the officers would work with the NHS to bring a report to the council.

Angus Council chief executive Sandy Watson said it would be preferable to bring a joint report back to the NHS, but for the moment the issue was slightly premature.

And Bernadette Malone of Perth and Kinross Council said they had to ascertain whether there was enough support at a local level.