Decision details

To consider the report of the Cabinet Member for Community Wellbeing to accept the outcome of the procurement process for Substance Misuse services for Adults and Young People in Southampton following a period of review, engagement and consultation.

(i)  To consider the findings from the review of substance misuse services and to note, as a result of the review, there is no proposal for a substantial redesign of services.

(ii)  To authorise the procurement of a substance misuse service for adults and young people in Southampton.

(iii)  To delegate authority to the Director of Quality & Integration to carry out a procurement process for the provision of services as set out in this report to provide substance misuse services to adults and young people in Southampton and with the Director of Legal & Governance to enter into contracts in accordance with the Contract Procedure Rules.

(iv)  To delegate authority to the Director of Quality & Integration following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Community Wellbeing to decide on the final model of commissioned services to support the provision of a substance misuse service and all decision making in relation to this recommissioning.

(v)  To authorise the Director of Quality and Integration to take all necessary actions to implement the proposals contained in this report.

There is a requirement to recommission Substance Misuse services for adults and young people in Southampton to comply with procurement rules. Current contracts come to an end in June 2019.  This report and the recommendations provide an informed proposal and seek approval to carry out a procurement to secure new services from July 2019.

1.  Other options were considered prior to the development of the current model, for example, continuing to contract with the current provider. However, these were rejected as they did not comply with the procurement rules. Other options included a single service (contract) to cover all service areas, which was rejected as it restricts the market to a smaller number of providers and potentially excludes small local voluntary agencies from applying. Consideration was also given to separating out all elements of the contracts (e.g. adults, young people and carers) or combining primary care services within the main contract. The advantages and disadvantages of each option was fully considered by Substance Misuse Review and Redesign project group and the proposed service model decided upon. 

2.  Joint commissioning with other Local Authorities: The possibility of tendering jointly for substance misuse services with other local authority and CCG areas (Hampshire, Portsmouth and IOW) was considered but the timeliness of commissioning cycles alongside different priorities meant this was not a viable option.