Purpose

The purpose of
the report is to seek authorisation to spend the Local Stop Smoking
Services and Tobacco Control Interventions Support Grant, which is
being made available to the Council by the Department of Health and
Social Care (DHSC) totalling £650,694 from April 2024 for the
delivery of stop smoking services and tobacco control interventions
in Sheffield and across South Yorkshire. An officer decision was
taken on 25th March 2024 to permit the Council to become
the accountable body for this grant.
The recommendations will contribute to the
achievement of the vision of the 2022-2027 Tobacco Control Strategy
in Sheffield which aims for people to live longer and healthier
lives, smokefree. The vision is also that Sheffield children grow
up in a city where smoking is unusual; and that Sheffield is a
smokefree city in which to live, work and play. Our ambition to
make smoking obsolete by 2030 or to get to 5% prevalence in adults
across all social groups. This strategy was signed off at
Council Cabinet in April 2022.

Content

It
is recommended for the Strategic Director of Public Health and
Integrated Commissioning to:

approve investment into the stop
smoking service contract £350,000 following funding reduction
made by the Integrated Care Board in April 2024.

 

approve the proposal for the Council
to become a key partner and funder of the South Yorkshire Tobacco
Control Alliance and to enter into the partnership agreement
developed by Council legal services and Terms of Reference for this
partnership, as outlined in this report.

 

approve Council commissioning the
goods and services required for the incentive scheme at a value of
up to £127,694 , as outlined in this report.

 

note the grant of £65,000 to
Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board to contribute to
the Yorkshire and Humber Smokefree campaign, as outlined in this
report. This decision will be taken via Strategy and Resources
Committee. This will be our contribution to the South Yorkshire
Regional Work in 2024/25.

Reasons for the decision

By the Strategic Director of Public Health and
Integrated Commissioning approving the increased investment in the
community stop smoking service, the Council becoming a key partner
and funder of the South Yorkshire Tobacco Control Alliance and
entering into a partnership agreement, as well as the commissioning
of the goods and services required for a financial incentive
scheme, will enable Sheffield to maximise the opportunity to
support smokers further in increasing quit attempts and quit
outcomes. Ultimately reducing smoking prevalence and associated
harm and health inequalities amongst our most vulnerable groups.
These plans will accelerate declines in smoking in Sheffield and
South Yorkshire and effectively utilise the government Local Stop
smoking Service and Tobacco Control Interventions Support
Grant.
 
This proposal will contribute to the
achievement of the vision of the 2022-2027 Tobacco Control Strategy
where people to live longer and healthier lives, smokefree.
Children will grow up in a city where smoking is unusual; and that
Sheffield is a smokefree city in which to live, work and play. Our
ambition to make smoking obsolete by 2030 or to get to 5%
prevalence in adults across all social groups.

Alternative options considered

Alternative Option 1:
 
All additional
funding to be allocated to the community stop smoking service.
This would lead to a contract larger in size
than the demand we could hope to treat via services. Some money
would be dormant in the contact and not used to best effect. Only
5% of the smoking population attend services – which is why
large promotion and engagement is required. Population level
interventions are necessary such as mass media campaigns to elicit
behaviour change across the whole smoking population. By funding a
range of interventions, we maximise the opportunity to meet the
needs of a range of smokers, as people are motivated by different
factors to quit.
           
Alternative Option 2:
 
Smokefree App
Whilst Smokefree App’s have been proven
to support smokers in achieving
successful quit attempts at a population level
with wide reach. Previous use of
these in Sheffield has led to low uptake.
Also, they do not support those who are digitally excluded and
could in some cases such as, where English is not your first
language provide further barriers to accessing support. This was
not viewed as the best option to maximise quit attempts.