Are you CLeaR on tobacco control?

We are pleased to announce that we have been able to secure funding from the North of England SHA cluster to roll out the introduction of the new CLeaR improvement tool.

CLeaR stands for ‘Challenge, Leadership and Results’ and it can assist localities to evaluate the effectiveness of their action to address the harms from tobacco. The Tobacco Free Futures team has worked with ASH and other partners to develop and test this new self-assessment model, which was piloted in Manchester.

The funding will enable those areas – whether local authorities, tobacco alliances, health and wellbeing boards – which wish to adopt the CLeaR approach to take the following actions to demonstrate a commitment to achieving excellence in local tobacco control:

• Register for membership of CLeaR, allowing access to support and advice on a structured self assessment, including training for up to two team members to become assessors
• Arrange a one-day peer-based external challenge to the self assessment to add rigour to the process. After their visit, peer assessors will provide a succinct improvement report highlighting strengths and areas for improvement

It should be noted that localities which become CLeaR members and enter into the self assessment process are not committing themselves to an  external peer review as this is separate and optional. However,  peer review does bring additional benefits for members.

Registration for CLeaR membership costs £950, and external peer assessment would normally cost £1,500 per locality.

However, the funding awarded to Tobacco Free Futures will enable us to meet those costs for areas which would like to adopt the Clear approach in a timeframe which suits individual localities.

At this stage we are working with ASH to ensure that CLeaR is introduced smoothly and we have the resources in place meet the training and assessment needs of localities. We will be in touch when the roll out plan is confirmed, but we hope that meanwhile you will take the opportunity to learn more about CLeaR www.ash.org.uk/CLeaR and how it will help us to continue to work together to make smoking history for children.