the programmes of legislation enacted by the scottish parliament have seen the divergence in the provision of public services compared to the rest of the united kingdom. while the costs of a university education, and care services for the elderly are free at point of use in scotland, fees are paid in the rest of the uk. scotland was the first country in the uk to ban smoking in public places, with the ban effective from 26 march 2006. also, on 19 october 2017, the scottish government announced that smacking children as punishment was to be banned in scotland, the first nation of the uk to do so.