Council to spend £477K on vapes in public health campaign
North Yorkshire Council is set to spend up to £477,000 on e-cigarettes to help residents quit smoking.
A report due to be considered by senior councillors later this week recommends launching a procurement process to secure a supplier to provide e-vouchers for e-cigarettes and related products through the council’s Living Well Smokefree service.
The proposed contract would run from July 2026 to July 2029 and would be demand-led, with no guarantee that the full amount would be spent.
[insert.advert]
The e-cigarettes would be provided free of charge to people accessing the stop smoking service, with costs covered through ring-fenced public health funding.
Council documents state that smoking remains the biggest preventable killer in the UK and is estimated to cost North Yorkshire around £400m a year in health, social care and wider impacts.
Under the proposals, eligible smokers working with Living Well Smokefree advisers would receive a voucher code to redeem online for reusable, rechargeable devices and associated products, with disposable vapes are now banned.
Since e-cigarettes were introduced into the service in July 2023, 487 people have used them as part of their quit attempt, with 363 achieving a successful four-week quit – a reported 75 per cent success rate.
Longer-term figures show 33 per cent remained smoke-free after a year.
The funding forms part of the Government’s Smokefree Generation ambitions, which aim to reduce national smoking prevalence to five per cent by 2030. North Yorkshire has been allocated £642,000 for 2025/26 to support local stop smoking services.
The council says providing access to a range of quit aids – including nicotine replacement therapy and e-cigarettes – is vital to help those who may require multiple attempts to stop smoking.
If approved, the procurement process will begin in the coming months, with the new contract expected to start in July 2026.
Major search to find man last seen two weeks ago in Selby pub
Extensive searches are underway for a man who hasn’t been seen since a night out in Selby more than two weeks ago.
Ryan Rudd, 28, was last seen in the early hours of Sunday 15 February in the New Inn on Gowthorpe.
He had been out with two friends on Valentine’s night.
[insert.advert]
New Inn, Selby
Police were called in after he failed to return home or to his barracks in Catterick Garrison.
A North Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: “Since then he has been out of contact with family, friends and colleagues we are very concerned for his safety.
“We are appealing to anyone who may have seen him in Selby on 14/15 February or has seen him since then, to contact us as a matter of urgency.”
