Luton Council’s contract for drug and alcohol service extended for year

Price tags announcing special prices are displayed at a liquor store. (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP via Getty Images)

A full competitive tender for the drug and alcohol service contract for Luton is planned this year, after the borough council cancelled a recent procurement exercise because no bids were received.

Instead the local authority is extending its present arrangement with ResoLUTiONs Change Grow Live (CGL) for another 12 months, while organising a retender process during the next financial year.

Luton Borough Council has a legal duty under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to reduce health inequalities and improve the wellbeing of the local population, according to a report to the executive.

It must ensure there are public health services aimed at reducing drug and alcohol misuse, and improve the take up and outcomes of its drug and alcohol misuse treatment services, said the report.

“The provision of substance misuse services is a condition of the public health grant received by LBC. A contract was awarded on April 1st 2017 for a five-year period.

“After advice from Public Health England (PHE) to not recommission during a pandemic, an extension was applied for to cover from April 2022 until the end of March 2024.

“After the council’s emergency budget, a contract variation was secured and spend was reduced by £168,000 to the present value of £3,629,500. A further award was agreed subsequently from April 2024 to the end of March 2025.

“Luton completed an open competitive procurement exercise to the point of bid submissions. Having received no tenders for the ‘alliance clinical’ service, LBC cancelled the bid process because it’s not appropriate to move forward without a clinical service to lead the new model.

“There was lack of confirmation on the extra funding from central government for 2025 onwards, while the core public health budget for the ‘alliance clinical’ service was deemed insufficient.

“It’s recognised nationally that this funding is essential in meeting the National Drug Strategy objectives and improving front line staffing,” explained the report. “The uncertainty around this finance affects providers’ delivery plans beyond March 2025, hindering effective planning and bid submission.

“It’s anticipated that funding for 2025/26 will remain the same as 2024/25. Luton was identified as a ‘challenged area’ by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) for drug and alcohol treatment services.

“Efforts by the provider (ResoLUTiONs CGL) and LBC’s public health team have seen numbers in treatment increase, during the last two years, including for those on the criminal justice pathways.

“Conditions associated with the ‘challenged area’ status were lifted by the OHID in December, having met the agreed ambitions and exceeded all of the number in treatment targets set for each cohort and categorised by substance type.

“The only exception is alcohol, for which we achieved 92 per cent. The proposed model of service delivery has been renamed the Luton Alliance to reflect the partnership and collaboration between providers.

“ResoLUTiONs CGL is willing to continue to deliver services in Luton for another year for £3,632,475,” added the report. “To accommodate any potential extra spend, it’s proposed that the contract values award will have a mechanism to vary contract value in year.”

The executive agreed a further one-year contract award to ResoLUTiONs CGL.