Decision details

Proposed decision:

I.             APPROVE the procurement of the Residential Recovery Housing contract for the period from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2028 (four years) with two additional two-year extension options.

II.           APPROVE the extension of the contracted East Kent Community Drug and Alcohol Service, West Kent Community Drug and Alcohol Service and Young Persons Drug and Alcohol service for a period of 10 months from 1 April 2024 to 31 January 2025.

III.         DELEGATE authority to the Director of Public Health to take relevant actions, including but not limited to, entering into and finalising the terms of relevant contracts or other legal agreements, as necessary, to implement the above decisions.

Reason for decision

Kent County Council has statutory responsibility as a condition of its Public Health Grant to provide specialist Substance Misuse Services aimed at reducing the harm caused by drugs and alcohol and to improve the health and wellbeing of Kent’s population. 

The four contracts under the Kent Drug and Alcohol Services are all due to expire on 31 March 2024 and therefore a key decision is required to plan for beyond this date.

Background

The provision of drug and alcohol services aligns with local and national strategies. Locally, the services support the levelling up agenda and integrated model of care outlined in the KCC Strategic plan 2022-26 (Framing Kent’s Future) as well as the improvement of the local treatment and recovery system as outlined in the Kent & Medway Drug and Alcohol Strategy, 2023-2028.

Nationally, drug and alcohol services support the Government’s 10-Year Drug Strategy ‘From Harm to Hope’ (2021). The strategy is supported by a grant, the level of which has been confirmed for three years, whilst the remaining seven await confirmation. Kent has supported the implementation of the national strategy by investing this money into existing contracts.

The four contracts that make up the Kent Drug and Alcohol Services in Kent, all of which are due to end on 31 March 2024, are:

-      West Kent Adult Drug and Alcohol Service (Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge & Malling), delivered by Change, Grow, Live (CGL)

·       Commenced on 1 April 2016 until 31 March 2024

-      East Kent Adult Drug and Alcohol Service (Swale, Canterbury, Thanet, Dover, Folkestone and Hythe and Ashford), delivered by Forward Trust

·       Commenced on 1 May 2017 until 31 March 2024

-      Kent Young Person Drug and Alcohol Service (Drug and Alcohol Support for those aged under 25), delivered by We Are With You (With You)

·       Commenced on 1 January 2018 until 31 March 2024

-      Residential Recovery Housing Service, which provides supported accommodation across two sites, The Cedars in Canterbury and Shepherd House in Folkestone, 18 residents in total. This Service is delivered by Change, Grow, Live (CGL)

·       Commenced in March 2019 until 31 March 2024

Public Health is seeking an extension to the first three contracts by a further 10 months which will enable clarity to be obtained over the continuation of funding under the 10 year “From Harm to Hope strategy”. Extending the contracts will enable the Council to:

·       Protect vulnerable people from the impact of procurement during a time of funding uncertainty.

·       Approach the market with a tender opportunity that has consistent levels of funding over the life of the contract.

Retendering the services in line with their current contract end date comes with the risk of having to procure services after a year into the new contract should the continuation of funding mean the newly procured contracts are no longer fit for purpose, need renegotiating and/or no longer financially viable.

Public Health is also proposing to procure the Residential Recovery Housing Service in readiness for when the contract expires on 31 March 2024. A commissioning review of the service recommended there would be benefit from approaching the market under a competitive procurement due to changes in the service specification. New service specifications emphasise requirements for a whole system approach to the care of service users. This includes:

·  Mental health support via a psychologically informed model

·  Enhanced physical health including partnership working with primary and secondary care

·  Life skills support for independent living via close partnerships with other KCC commissioned services (One You), district councils, Department of Work and Pensions and local Voluntary Community and Social enterprises.

The new service model is being piloted with the aim of achieving positive improvements in terms of safety, service users’ outcomes and service utilisation.      

It is proposed that the procurement concludes in December 2023, allowing for a 3 month mobilisation period for the new service.

Options

Decommissioning the service is a non-viable option that would contravene the local authority’s responsibility to deliver drug and alcohol treatment and recovery services, the terms and conditions of grant funding received and both national and local strategies.

As Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health, I propose to:

I.             APPROVE the procurement of the Residential Recovery Housing contract for the period from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2028 (four years) with two additional two-year extension options.

II.            APPROVE the extension of the contracted East Kent Community Drug and Alcohol Service, West Kent Community Drug and Alcohol Service and Young Persons Drug and Alcohol service for a period of 10 months from 1 April 2024 to 31 January 2025.

III.          DELEGATE authority to the Director of Public Health to take relevant actions, including but not limited to, entering into and finalising the terms of relevant contracts or other legal agreements, as necessary, to implement the above decisions.