SC240068 - Young Persons Drug and Alcohol Service

Following the elapse of the 8 working day standstill period, the Council is awarding 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.

Following the elapse of the 8 working day standstill period, the Council is awarding 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.

Proposed Contract Start and End Date 1st February 2025 – 31 January 2027

The individuals involved in writing the assessment template were

• Sofia Serenelli – Commissioner
• Rebecca Eley – Senior Commissioner

The individuals involved in managing the moderation process were

• Matthew Wellard – Commercial and Procurement Manager – Moderator
• Nicola Foster – Commercial and Procurement Officer – Note taker

The individuals involved in the evaluation of the 5 Key Criteria were within the Direct Award C

process.

-Jess Mookherjee

-Chris Beale

-Alison Newman

-Alan Luke

-Rebecca Rhodes

The Director of Public Health Anjan Ghosh took the decision to intend to award the contract.

A summary of the assessment as to whether We Are With You met the quality standard

required to be Direct Awarded the contract under the Provider Selection Regime (PSR)

Direct Award C procurement process. The evaluation panel independently scored the

providers past and future performance against the 5 key criteria using a set scoring criteria

which is detailed below.

Grade Score Grade Descriptions

A – Exceptional Evidence 100 Evidence meets the requirement in an exceptional manner that

demonstrates an overall extremely effective solution including the relevant commitment,

understanding and resource

B – Very good evidence 93 Evidence meets the requirement in a very good manner that

delivers an overall effective solution including the relevant commitment, understanding and

resource

C – Good evidence 85 Evidence meets the requirement that delivers an overall effective

solution including the relevant commitment, understanding and resource

D – Acceptable Evidence

80

Evidence meets the requirement with to an acceptable standard that overall includes the

relevant commitment, understanding and resource and quality, notwithstanding that there

may be minor issues which are easily resolvable and in any event which do not have a material

impact on the overall acceptability of the contract.

E – Minor reservations 70 Evidence meets the requirement that overall includes the relevant

commitment, understanding and resource but which may give rise to some minor

reservations in one or more areas which may be resolvable but, if not, may have an impact on

the overall acceptability of the contract.

F – Major Reservations 30 Evidence fails overall to meet the requirement and/or gives rise to

one or more serious concerns about the relevant commitment, understanding, and/or

resources irrespective of any added value above the requirements or elements of the

requirements.

G – Unacceptable evidence 0 Evidence overall fails to meet the requirement and/or contains

insufficient information to evidence overall meeting the requirement, including the relevant

commitment, understanding and/or resources irrespective of any added value above the

requirements or elements of the requirements.

The outcome of the assessment is below.

2 )Is the provider doing a good job on the existing contract?

Heading Titles (Key Criteria Moderated Score Numerical Value Weighting Weighted Score)

Quality and Innovation B 93 25 23.25

Value B 93 25 23.25

Integration, collaboration and service sustainability B 93 20 18.6

Improving access, reducing health inequalities, and facilitating choice B 93 20 18.6

Social value B 93 10 9.3

93 PASS as score is greater than minimum score required of 80

3) Is the provider likely to do a good job on the future contract?

Heading Titles (Key Criteria Moderated Score Numerical Value Weighting Weighted Score)

Quality and Innovation B 93 25 23.25

Value B 93 25 23.25

Integration, collaboration and service sustainability B 93 20 18.6

Improving access, reducing health inequalities, and facilitating choice A 100 20 20

Social value B 93 10 9.3

94.4 PASS as score is greater than minimum score required of 80

In addition, an assessment was made against whether the contract was changing

considerably, which is detailed below;

• Assessment of the contract concluded the proposed contracting arrangements were not

materially different in character to the existing contract

• AND
• The new contracting arrangements did not meet the considerable change tests set out in

Regulation 6(10)(b)(i-iii)

The contract was also assessed against the Basic Selection Criteria and passed all required

elements of the Basic Selection Criteria.

Following the full assessment required under Direct Award C, it was deemed permissible to

Direct Award the contract to We Are With You as

1 The provider met all requirements under the basic selection criteria

2 the contract was not changing considerably

3 the provider was performing well against the existing contract

4 the provider will likely satisfy the requirements of the future contract to a suitable level.