SC240068 - Young Persons Drug and Alcohol Service

It is the intent of the Council to award a contract as detailed within this notice to an existing provider following The Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023 Direct Award C procurement procedure.

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 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 Drug and Alcohol Strategy, 2023-2028.

The proposed decision supports Securing Kent’s Future 2022-2026 under Objective 3: Policy choices and scope of Council’s ambitions, by evaluating the statutory minimum requirements in order to create efficiencies.

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.