Decision details

The purpose of this report is to seek approval for a procurement process to ensure continuity of the provision of e-vouchers for e-cigarettes and associated products to help people in North Yorkshire to quit smoking through the Living Well Smokefree service. The selected company will provide access to e-cigarettes and associated products via a voucher scheme for smokers who choose to adopt this method of quitting.

Approval has been given to commence procurement for the provision of e-vouchers for e-cigarettes and associated products to help people in North Yorkshire to quit smoking through the Living Well Smokefree service.

Following the procurement process, the selected company will provide access to e-cigarettes and associated products via a voucher scheme to individuals who choose to adopt this method of quitting. Access to the voucher will only be through the Living Well Smokefree Service. This will contribute to work towards the Smokefree Generation targets for North Yorkshire, thereby addressing health inequalities and improving population health.

In accordance with Officers' Delegation Scheme, the decision has been delegated to Dr Victoria Turner, Public Health Consultant on behalf of Director of Public Health, in consultation with Executive Member for Health and Adult Services.

North Yorkshire has received the second year of five years of additional investment from a national fund of £70million for local stop smoking services across England to support people to stop smoking, in an effort to achieve a 5% national prevalence by 2030. Smoking remains the biggest preventable killer in the UK, contributing to a wide range of health conditions and costing North Yorkshire an estimated £400m per year on health, social care and other costs (ASH Ready Reckoner, 2025). Therefore, ensuring that support is in place to help as many people quit is important to ensuring people live as long and healthy life as possible.
In recent years, e-cigarettes have become a popular and effective stop smoking aid in the United Kingdom. They are less harmful than cigarettes and they can help adults quit smoking for good.

The option to discontinue the e-cigarette offer for people accessing support to stop smoking via Living Well Smokefree has been discounted due to the evidence base for e-cigarettes as an effective quit aid. Each individual accessing the service is offered a range of effective available stop smoking aids including e-cigarettes, Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) and stop smoking medications which will become available during 2026. This is complemented by behavioural support from a trained stop smoking advisor who can help each individual to make an informed choice about the best quit aid for them, considering a range of factors and the available options.