Issue - meetings

The Executive resolved to direct award the delivery of the specialist drug and alcohol treatment service to the current provider (SDAS) in line with the Provider Selection Regime (PSR) regulations for 2 years, with effect from April 2026 and with the option to extend for a further year.

The Leader of the Council, Cllr Bill Revans, invited the Lead Member for Public Health, the Environment and Climate Change, Cllr Graham Oakes to introduce the report. Cllr Oakes explained that this was a renewal of the contract with the current provider, which is a specialist all-age service, and that in a challenging situation keeping the contract and consistency is important the vulnerable people being served.

Cllr Oakes proceeded to hand over to Consultant in Public Health, Matthew Hibbert, and Service Manager – Substance Use, Jodie Reading, who detailed: the wider context including the national policy environment; the impact of substance abuse problems across Somerset including on housing and vulnerable children; that there is a new model of service which provides an opportunity; the link between addiction and substance use and wider issues such as offending behaviour, health, housing and crime; the prevalence data on those in Somerset struggling with substance use; what the service offers and that it is an all age, all substance service; that for the first time the numbers for alcohol treatment were higher than opiate treatment; that the provider operate three hubs across the county and uses community venues to outreach into vulnerable groups who might struggle to access; that the provider has expertise in harm reduction such as needle exchange, naloxone, and opiate substitution therapy; that there are peer-led and co-led initiatives in Somerset; the commissioning process and the new provider selection regime; and that the ask of Executive is a direct award of the contract to Turning Point branded as Somerset Drug and Alcohol Service (SDAS).

The Leader of the Council invited comments from Committee Members and other Members present, with officers providing responses as appropriate. Questions and points raised included: that this reaches across many areas of Council work; the ongoing work to improve the numbers of people the service reaches; the risk as the funding comes to an end at the end of 2025/26; the importance of evidencing good work to get further funding; the complexity of need of service users; the Equality Impact Assessment in relation to care leavers; clarification on the different risk scores; the importance of coordinated working around this; the strong track record of Turning Point in Bristol and Somerset; and the impact of contract length on the service and provider.

The Leader of the Council concluded the discussion and proceeded to a vote on the recommendations, which were agreed unanimously.

The Executive resolved to direct award the delivery of the specialist drug and alcohol treatment service to the current provider (SDAS) in line with the Provider Selection Regime (PSR) regulations for 2 years, with effect from April 2026 and with the option to extend for a further year.