4. 3. Statement: The Public Health (Wales) Bill

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:20 pm on 8 November 2016.

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Photo of John Griffiths John Griffiths Labour 3:20, 8 November 2016

As others said earlier, Minister, I think it is very important that we get a more physically active population in Wales. I do believe that community-focused schools, as Angela Burns touched on, are a very important way forward. I also think that air pollution hasn’t had sufficient attention. I met with a group recently, for example, that told me that capital conversion costs for their particular fuel for taxi fleets, for example, would repay itself over a two-year period and make quite a dramatic impact on better air quality in our inner urban areas. I am sure there must be many other examples of how we can get much better air quality in Wales that we could practically make progress on quite quickly.

But what I really wanted to ask about is two things, really. One is smoking. I think we’ve made considerable progress in making smoking less socially acceptable. Smoking rates have come down, and that’s been a huge benefit to health in Wales. You allow in your statement for the possibility of further areas of restriction to be developed. One that I know has quite a lot of popular support in my experience is restricting smoking so that it’s not possible in outdoor restaurant and cafe areas where there’s seating and tables. I think people think that that’s particularly important in the summer, where some people see it as a choice between either not enjoying the fine weather or breathing in second-hand smoke, which for some people is particularly problematic, given their health conditions. And minimum alcohol pricing, Minister: I wonder if you could say something in terms of your thoughts on how that can be taken forward in Wales, again given the impact of alcohol abuse and immoderate alcohol consumption on health in Wales.