Purpose

Approval of grant funding to Chesterfield Football Club Community Trust and Derbyshire Addictions Advice Service to provide smoking advisor support.
 

Decision

The Cabinet Member for Communities and Safety:

a) Approves grant funding to Chesterfield Football Club Community Trust to deliver smoking cessation support to Derbyshire residents in recovery from substance use, at a total cost of £58,021.04 for the year 2026/2027.

b) Approves grant funding to Derbyshire Addictions Advice Service to deliver smoking cessation support to Derbyshire residents in recovery from substance use, at a total cost of £46,720 for the year 2026/2027.

c) Notes that this spend will be funded through the ring fenced smoking cessation funding which is part of the consolidated public health grant for 2026/2027 

Reasons for the decision

The Stopping the Start command paper emphasises the importance of strong local implementation and collaboration with community based services to improve access to smoking cessation support and reduce barriers to care. Embedding Stop Smoking support within Chesterfield Football Club Community Trust (CFCCT) and the Derbyshire Addictions Advice Service (DAAS) aligns with this national direction and ensures that support is delivered through trusted organisations already working closely with Derbyshire communities, including people in recovery from substance use—one of the groups most affected by higher smoking rates and reduced access to mainstream services.

Since the introduction of the funding in 2024, CFCCT and DAAS have demonstrated clear, measurable impact to those engaged with the programme. Data collected from the programmes evidence both reach and effectiveness among a priority cohort. Both CFCCT and DAAS’s continued involvement will reduce barriers to engagement, increase the number of people accessing support, and contribute directly to a rise in quit dates set and achieved—supporting both local and national smoking cessation targets.

Providing grant funding to CFCCT and DAAS ensures that the Council fully utilises the ring-fenced smoking cessation grant from DHSC to maximum benefit for Derbyshire residents. It also ensures that funding is directed toward interventions already shown to be effective, supporting ongoing reductions in smoking prevalence across Derbyshire, particularly amongst disadvantaged groups. 

Alternative options considered

Option 1: Do nothing – do not provide grant funding to DAAS and CFCCT (not recommended). Withholding grant funding would leave individuals in recovery from substance use dependence facing continued and significant barriers to accessing stop smoking support. This would limit the number of quit dates achieved within this priority group and hinder progress toward local and national cessation targets.

Additionally, this option presents a reputational and financial risk to the Council. The ring-fenced smoking cessation funding received from DHSC must be spent on smoking cessation only. Failure to utilise this funding would therefore reduce the benefit to Derbyshire residents and could undermine confidence in the Council’s ability to utilise ring fenced public health grants effectively.

Option 2: Approve the grant funding to DAAS and CFCCT to continue delivering Stop Smoking support (preferred option). Providing grant funding will enable DAAS and CFCCT to continue embedding smoking cessation support within community organisations that already work closely with individuals in recovery and other harder to reach groups. This approach reduces barriers to engagement, increases the number of residents accessing cessation support, and supports greater numbers of quit dates being set and achieved.

This option also ensures that the Council maximises the impact of the smoking cessation funding received from DHSC, directing it to frontline activity that benefits Derbyshire residents and contributes directly to local and national smoking reduction priorities.