The Health and Adults Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Panel met to discuss Doncaster's comprehensive tobacco control programme, focusing on strategies to reduce smoking prevalence, support cessation, and combat illicit tobacco sales. The panel reviewed the effectiveness of current initiatives, heard from service providers, and discussed challenges and future priorities, ultimately agreeing to a recommendation to improve professional referrals to stop smoking services.

Tobacco Control and Smokefree Generation in Doncaster

The panel received a comprehensive update on Doncaster's tobacco control programme, highlighting that smoking remains the single largest preventable cause of ill health, disability, and premature death in the borough, and a significant driver of health inequalities. Smoking prevalence in Doncaster stands at 14.0%, higher than the England average of 10.9%, with particularly high rates among routine and manual workers and individuals with long-term mental health conditions. The report detailed the significant economic impact of smoking, estimated at £300 million annually for Doncaster, encompassing healthcare, social care, productivity losses, and fire-related costs.

The discussion covered the national policy context, including the Tobacco and Vapes Act, which aims to create a smokefree generation by progressively raising the age of sale for tobacco products and strengthening enforcement against youth vaping. Doncaster has received additional funding to support its Tobacco Control Action Plan through the Doncaster Tobacco Control Alliance (DTCA), which brings together various partners.

Key areas of focus included:

• Smokefree Environments: The DTCA has been working to expand smokefree spaces, including school grounds, playgrounds, hospital grounds, and public transport waiting areas. A Smokefree Sidelines campaign supports local sports clubs to become smoke and vape-free, and work is underway to establish smokefree family hubs. The council has also committed to not accepting industry-funded resources that create designated smoking areas, believing that reducing smoking prevalence is the most effective way to tackle cigarette litter.
• Campaigns and Communications: Regional campaigns like What Will You Miss? and Turn the Corner have been amplified locally, with Turn the Corner showing positive behavioural change, including increased quit attempts. Doncaster has also run its own Smokefree Starts Doncaster campaigns featuring local residents' stories.
• Tailoring Services and Communications: Recognising that certain groups face more entrenched barriers to quitting, the alliance has identified priority groups, including routine and manual workers, people in deprived neighbourhoods, social housing residents, those experiencing homelessness, ethnic minority communities, individuals with mental health conditions, pregnant women and their households, drug and alcohol users, LGBTQIA+ individuals, people with learning disabilities, those with smoking-related conditions, hospital patients screened for addiction, carers, and young people aged 11-17. Interventions are being tailored, with examples including support for social housing tenants and work to understand barriers for LGBTQIA+ communities.
• Stop Smoking Services: Doncaster offers a range of evidence-based services. Yorkshire Smokefree Doncaster supports adults aged 19 and over, with a focus on personalised plans and harm reduction approaches, including vaping support. Despite a high client satisfaction rate, generating sufficient referrals, particularly from GPs and healthcare professionals, remains a challenge. The service aims to achieve 1,800 successful quits annually, requiring approximately 4,082 referrals. Alternative routes include Primary Care Doncaster's Health Bus service and the Smokefree App.
• Smoking in Pregnancy Services: Doncaster has a specialist service, Smoking in Pregnancy and Beyond, delivered by RDaSH, which supports pregnant women and their partners. This service is funded through the Public Health Grant and has achieved an 82.1% quit rate in 2025/26. The national Smokefree Pregnancy Incentive Scheme, offering voucher incentives, has been integrated into the service.
• Support for Young People: The Zone 5-19 Service provides holistic health and wellbeing support, including smoking and vaping cessation for children and young people. Interventions include one-to-one sessions, school-based education, and outreach. Challenges include youth attitudes towards vaping, engagement difficulties, and access to products through informal sources. The service is working to strengthen early intervention and transition pathways to adult services. Research is also being conducted to understand young people's perceptions of vaping and to involve them in policy development.
• Regulatory Services: Trading Standards plays a vital role in enforcement, education, and intelligence-led activity to prevent youth access to tobacco and vaping products and disrupt illicit sales. In 2025/26, seizure rates increased by 103%, with significant quantities of illicit cigarettes, hand-rolling tobacco, and vapes removed from circulation. Challenges include the evolving nature of organised crime, resource limitations, and officer safety. A multi-agency approach, including Operation Smoke Alpha, is in place to tackle organised crime linked to illicit tobacco and vaping.

During the discussion, councillors raised questions about data sources for smoking prevalence, the definition of deprived neighbourhoods, the impact of interventions on health inequalities, and the specific challenges of youth vaping. The panel also discussed the cost of smoking to Doncaster, the effectiveness of various campaigns, and the long-term risks of vaping.

A key recommendation agreed upon by the panel was to consider a note from the Scrutiny Committee to be channelled through to primary care colleagues to improve professional referrals to stop smoking services.

Overview and Scrutiny Work Plan and Council's Forward Plan of Key Decisions

The panel noted the latest work plan and forward plan of key decisions. The Chair highlighted that the panel's current review around safe discharge from hospitals would continue, and that a decision around the dementia strategy would be coming next year. The meeting concluded with the panel noting the report and the work plan.