Agenda item

Report attached.

Members considered a report of Councillor Melissa Fisher, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Housing and Regeneration, informing Cabinet of the Smoke Free Programme Services in Hyndburn.

Councillor Fisher provided a brief introduction to the report, outlining the current arrangements, under which Hyndburn Leisure had been appointed in August 2025 to deliver the programme until March 2026.  She highlighted the key project outcomes and drew Members’ attention to the interim delivery report covering the period from September 2025 to January 2026.  The intention was to passport the funding received from Lancashire County Council to Hyndburn Leisure to support the work that they had carried out at risk.

Approval of the report was not deemed a key decision.

Reasons for Decision

Hyndburn Leisure had submitted a grant application to Lancashire County Council (LCC) in respect of its Lancashire Local Stop Smoking Services and Support Grant programme (LLSSASG) for £98,000 and the funding had been approved by LCC Public Health in August 2025.  The project was due to be delivered from September 2025 until 31^st March 2026 by Hyndburn Leisure, but the funding would be given to the Council.

Hyndburn Leisure’s programme was to deliver services that supported the following overarching key project outcomes:

• Build demand for Smokefree Lancashire;
• Increase the number of smokers accessing the Smokefree Lancashire service;
• Increase the number of smokers setting a quit date;
• Increase the number of smokers who are quitting;
• Reduce the smoking prevalence in Lancashire;
• Improve the respiratory and cardiovascular health of local populations;
• Reduce health inequalities for target populations; and
• Deliver a “Making Every Contact Count” approach to encourage positive behaviour change and outcomes.

A brief interim progress update of the work delivered by HL was appended to the Cabinet report, with a final report due to be presented later in the year.

The report recommended that the Council waived its Contract Procedure rules and appointed Hyndburn Leisure to deliver the smoke free service from September 2025 to 31^st March 2026 for the following reasons:

• Whilst Hyndburn Leisure had submitted the grant application to LCC, the funding was paid via a contractual agreement between Hyndburn Borough Council and Lancashire County Council.  Whilst this agreement had been signed in January 2026, the Trust had been working at risk to deliver the project since September 2025.
• The Council was under a contractual obligation with Lancashire County Council to deliver the smoke free project and would passport this grant funding to Hyndburn Leisure via a service level agreement.
• This service level agreement could not be signed and the funding released to Hyndburn Leisure unless the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules were waived. Given the relatively late receipt of the funding from LCC there was not time for the Council to run a procurement exercise and ensure delivery of the project by the deadline date.

Alternative Options considered and Reasons for Rejection

Cabinet could decide not to waive the Contract Procedure Rules to appoint Hyndburn Leisure to deliver smoke free service.  This was not recommended for the reasons highlighted in paragraph 3.1 and 3.4 in the report.

Resolved                                 (1)   That Cabinet agrees to waive the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules to appoint Hyndburn Leisure to deliver the Smoke Free programme on behalf of the Council for the period September 2025 to 31^st March 2026.

(2)   That Cabinet agrees to delegate authority to the Executive Director (Environment) to agree all terms relating to a Smoke Free Service Level Agreement with Hyndburn Leisure, in consultation with the Executive Director (Legal & Democratic Services) and Portfolio Holder.