Integrated Treatment Recovery Wellbeing and Substance Misuse Service 2026 - 2029 (PSR Direct award route C)

The Council has a contract titled Integrated Treatment Recovery Wellbeing and Substance Misuse Service. The Integrated Treatment Recovery Wellbeing and Substance Misuse Service is provided by Via Care (formerly WDP - Westminster Drugs Project).

The current contract will expire on 31/03/2026.

Brent Council entered into a contract to provide substance misuse services under the Integrated Treatment Recovery Wellbeing and Substance Misuse Service (the “Contract”) with Westminster Drugs Project (now rebranded and renamed as VIA Community Ltd from 14/11/2024 for 2 years with the current contract due to expire on 31/03/2026.

The Council is intending to award a contract an existing provider following direct award process C.

The approximate lifetime value of the contract is £12,055,520.

The dates between which the services are intended to be provided is 01/04/2026 - 31/03/2029.

The Integrated Treatment Recovery Wellbeing and Substance Misuse Service is provided by Via Community Ltd. The services deliver against the key priorities outlined in 2021 National Drug Strategy: From Harm to Hope and this includes clinical prescribing (including relapse prevention), Treatment and Recovery Services, Care planned counselling service and recovery day programme, Outreach and engagement, Criminal Justice Interventions and Young Persons Early Intervention and Prevention Services.

There is evidence that being in treatment has marked impacts on the wider health and social care economy, as well as on levels of offending. There continues to be a recognition that evidence-based drug and alcohol services support improvements in health, reduce drug and alcohol related deaths, reductions in blood borne viruses, improve relationships and reduced wider social harms. Substance misuse services in Brent have always been required to demonstrate to Public Health commissioning leads how they contribute to these wider societal agendas.

There is an extensive Treatment and Recovery offer available to Brent residents which is tailored according to individual health and social care needs in which all those who access the service have an individual care plan and a clinical assessment which will also include advice about health and wellbeing, regular one to one key working sessions, support groups weekend services as well as a range of education, training and employment programmes and opportunities for volunteering.

Increasing the numbers of Opiate and Crack user’s (OCU’s) in Structured Treatment and Recovery Services is a key policy priority for central government in its approach to reducing the wider harm to the community caused by drug (and alcohol related) crime and related anti-social behaviour. Increasing the number of OCU’s into the local structured treatment and recovery system will directly influence the level of funding for drug and alcohol services received by Brent through the Public Health Grant.

Via Community Ltd have continued to provide services outlined in the original contract and submissions to National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS) through 24/25 and 25/26. They have continued to improve performance on key areas outlined in the 2021 National Drug Strategy: From Harm to Hope such as increasing the numbers in Structured Treatment and increasing the number of opiate and crack users into the local treatment and recovery system.