(a)  The commissioning of Behavioural Stop Smoking Support services [to complement the county wide pharmacotherapy and community stop smoking service] through an open tendering process be approved, for a period of up to 48 months commencing on 1 July 2025 up to 30 June 2029. Multiple eligible providers will be appointed to deliver this service with the total annual cost of £15,000 across all providers.

(b)  The commissioning of Pharmacotherapy Stop Smoking Services through an open tendering process be approved, for a period of up to 48 months commencing on 1 July 2025 up to 30 June 2029. Multiple eligible providers will be appointed to deliver this service with the total annual cost of £70,000 across all providers. The budget for this service is subject to receipt of the annual government Local Stop Smoking Services Grant funding.

(c)   direct award is made to PharmOutcomes system using the below £25k procedure as per the Council's Contract Procedure Rules to support this delivery for a period up to 31 March 2029 with a maximum contract value of £24,000 (£6,000 per annum). This is an existing system the Pharmacies use and the cost Licence and represents best value.

(d)  authority be delegated to both the Director for Community Wellbeing and the Director for Public Health to award the contracts for Pharmacotherapy Stop Smoking Services and Behavioural Stop Smoking Support services, following the completion of a procurement process and;

(e)  that delegated authority is given to both the Director for Community Wellbeing and the Director for Public Health, to approve any changes to the commissioning process, or subsequent contracts for their duration, including the option to extend, vary and terminate existing contracts.

1.     Allow the existing contract for stop smoking to expire on 30 June 2025, and the service to cease. This option is not recommended, as this service is key to improving the health of the local population and a condition of the Smokefree Generation Grant is that investment in Stop Smoking Services is maintained. According to the ASH economic assessment tool between 2021 and 2022 smoking related costs in Herefordshire were estimated at £128million. This included productivity losses (£78.8million), healthcare costs (£5.64million), social care costs (£42.4million), and fire related costs (£1.16million).