The Health Act 2006 (c 28) is an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

. It provides for a number of administrative changes in the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

Part 1 - Smoking

Chapter 1 - Smoke-free premises, places and vehicles

The Act is best known for having introduced provisions for the creation of a ban on smoking in enclosed public places. This ban focuses on smoking: * In places of work. * In places that the public access to obtain

goods In economics, goods are items that satisfy human wants and provide utility, for example, to a consumer making a purchase of a satisfying product. A common distinction is made between goods which are transferable, and services, which are not tran ...

and

services Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a p ...

, including private clubs. * In other places designated by

Statutory Instrument In many countries, a statutory instrument is a form of delegated legislation. United Kingdom Statutory instruments are the principal form of delegated or secondary legislation in the United Kingdom. National government Statutory instrument ...

. The sections of the Act allowing a ban extend to

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

although the provisions implementing the ban came into effect separately in England and Wales. In England the ban took effect on 1 July 2007. The ban in Wales came into effect on 2 April 2007. Smoking was banned separately in Northern Ireland and Scotland — in Northern Ireland by the Smoking (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 which took effect on 30 April 2007, and in Scotland (taking effect 26 March 2006) by the

Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005 The Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005 (asp 13) is an Act of the Scottish Parliament passed in 2005, after being introduced by Scottish Executive Health minister Andy Kerr. The Act established that, from 26 March 2006, it would ...

. In 2017, the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

held that the smoking ban contained in chapter 1 of the Act did not bind the Crown, and therefore did not need to be enforced on Crown premises such as prisons.

Chapter 2 - Age of sale for tobacco etc

Section 13 granted the Secretary of State the power to increase the age for purchasing tobacco from 16 to 18, which came into force on 1 October 2007.

Part 7 - Final provisions

Section 83 - Commencement

References

Halsbury's Statutes ''Halsbury's Statutes of England and Wales'' (commonly referred to as ''Halsbury's Statutes'') provides updated texts of every Public General Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, Measure of the Welsh Assembly, or Church of England Measur ...

External links

The Health Act 2006
as amended from the National Archives.
The Health Act 2006
as originally enacted from the National Archives.
Explanatory notes
to the Health Act 2006. {{UK legislation United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 2006 NHS legislation Tobacco control Smoking in the United Kingdom