Issue - meetings

Report of the Director of Public Health

The Cabinet considered the report of the Director of Public Health which provided details of the key findings of a review of the current arrangements for the provision of the Young People Substance Misuse (SMASH) Service and Breaking Intergenerational Family Substance Misuse (Breaking the Cycle) for the residents of Sefton and sought authorisation to commence a procurement process to establish an Integrated Young People and Family Substance Misuse Service.

Decision Made: That

(1)       the Director of Public Health be authorised to conduct an OJEU Light-Touch Regime tender exercise to establish a Young Person and Family Substance Misuse Service to run for a period of two-and-half years from 1st October 2017 with the option of two further one-year extensions with a ceiling price of £350,000 per annum; and

(2)       Director of Public Health be authorised in consultation with the Cabinet Member – Health and Wellbeing to award the contract to the highest scoring bidder, within the context of the approved budget and Medium Term Financial Plan.

Reasons for Decision:

The procurement of an Integrated Young People and Family Substance Misuse Service would enable the Council to realise savings by rationalising the management and administration cost of two separate services. Currently the SMASH Service is provided in-house by Sefton Council and Breaking the Cycle is provided by Addaction. The development of an integrated service specification would enable officers to incorporate findings from the Young Person’s Health Needs Assessment and commission a flexible and responsive service in line with local need and national guidelines. 

The procurement process would be required to follow an OJEU Light-Touch Regime Open Procedure. The value of the total contract requires Cabinet authorisation and delegation to a Chief Officer to award the contract at the end of the tender process.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:

1)         To extend both the SMASH Young Peoples Substance Misuse Service contract and the Breaking the Cycle contract for a further twelve months.

This option would only provide a short-term solution with the option of re-procurement and possible integration having to be considered in twelve months.

2)         To re-procure separate SMASH and Breaking the Cycle service providers.

This option would incur additional costs associated with the procurement process and not enable the Council to realise the efficiencies associated with an integrated service delivery model. It would not realise the benefits to families and young people of accessing and being treated by a single integrated service.