Newcastle Council has come out in favour of the government’s planned outdoor smoking restrictions.
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00:00Newcastle City Council has backed the government's controversial plans to clamp down on outdoor
00:05smoking. The local authority, who has previously aimed to be a smoke-free city, has advised
00:10that the measures would ease pressure on the NHS and would be beneficial to all people
00:13in the city. Businesses within the hospitality trade have been pressuring the council to
00:17reconsider, saying that these measures would be devastating to their industry, which has
00:21suffered in recent years from the global financial crisis and Covid lockdowns. A spokesperson
00:27for the council said the negative impact of tobacco has been recognised as the single
00:30biggest preventable cause of death in England, and it can cause harm to almost every part
00:34of the human body. There are currently around 6.5 million smokers in England, and government
00:40statistics state that approximately 80,000 people in the country die from smoking-related
00:44issues every year. If passed, the new restrictions would only apply in England, but all new licences
00:50for pavement cafes and outdoor seating areas in bars and restaurants would be no-smoking.
00:55About 100 such places in the city are already smoke-free.