Agenda item

Joint report of Corporate Director for People and Director of Public Health

Councillor Kotsonis, Executive Member for Adult Social Care and Health, introduced the report.

Tammy Coles, Public Health Principal, presented the report and stated the following:

a)  in May 2021, the Council was invited to apply for funding through the (RSDTAG) for services to be delivered in 2021/22 and 2022/23. The purpose of the funding was identified as to;

·  support people experiencing, or at risk of experiencing rough sleeping to access and engage in drug and alcohol treatment;

·  ensure that the engagement that people have had with drug and alcohol treatment services whilst rough sleeping or in emergency accommodation is maintained as they move into longer terms accommodation;

·  build resilience and capacity in local drug and alcohol treatment systems to continue to meet the needs of this population in future years;

b)  the Council’s application was approved by Public Health England in October 2021, and the receipt and spend of the allocation (total value of £1,016,044 to 31 March 2023) was approved by Commissioning and Procurement Executive Committee in December 2021;

c)  following this, a contract variation to Nottingham Recovery Network for the provision of Substance Use Treatment and Recovery services was issued. The programme has commenced and is live and operational;

d)  in April 2022, it was confirmed that RSDATG would be extended until the end of March 2025 (subject to treasury approval) and the Council were invited to undertake a review of the current RSDATG staffing model and associated project costs and submit a revised proposal for a period of 21 months (1 July 2022 to 31 March 2024);

e)  in July 2022, the Council received notification of its funding allocation for RSDATG for 2022/23 and 2023/24 as follows:

·  2022/23 allocation £980,356;

·  2023/24 allocation £948,674;

f)  the 2022/23 allocation included funding previously awarded and covered by  spend approval for up to £1,016,044 (CPEC, 14 Dec 2021) and spend approval for the 2023/24 allocation was obtained via this Committee on 13 September 2022;

g)  in June 2023, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) informed us of an indicative allocation of £1,035,966 for 2024/25, subject to ministerial sign off, and on 27 March 2024, OHID confirmed Nottingham City’s RSDATG budget for 2024/25 as £1,035,965.

Resolved to approve

(1)  receipt of funding up to a total of an additional £1,035,965 from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities for the delivery of a range of additional drug and alcohol treatment activity for people sleeping rough (and those at risk) to 31 March 2025;

(2)  spend of;

(a)  £32,854.50 to increase substance use commissioning staffing resource in line with grant conditions:

(b)  £1,003,110.50 from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 for the provision of Substance Use Treatment services via a contract variation to the Nottingham Recovery Network contract for the provision of Substance Use Treatment services (in accordance with Article 18.110 of the Contract Procedure Rules).

Reasons for recommendations

a)  the report sought approval to receive a revised allocation of the ringfenced Rough Sleeper Drug and Alcohol Grant (RSDTAG) for Nottingham City for 2024/25. The grant was first awarded in Autumn 2021, with funding allocated until March 2023. The Office of Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) have subsequently confirmed a revised (and increased) allocation for 2022/23 and 2023/24. The allocation for 2024/25 was confirmed by OHID in March 2024;

b)  OHID have approved a proposal for the use of this funding, which includes a contribution towards the public health and commissioning workforce. Recommendation 2 refers to the use of this towards a post within the public health team at Nottingham City Council;

c)  the existing adult substance use treatment and recovery services, who provide this grant funded activity, have contracts through to 30 September 2028, and a contract variation is proposed to continue the Grant-funded activity (recommendation 3) within this contract;

d)  approval to vary the main contract for the existing drug and alcohol treatment system in Nottingham has been sought to ensure that existing delivery of this activity continues. The delivery of this activity will also build on the infrastructure provided through the existing core treatment and recovery service, avoiding costs incurred through duplication of this activity to secure value for money. The existing service is contract managed and has been assessed as performing well.

Other options considered

a)  Not to take receipt of the funding awarded by OHID through the Rough Sleeping Drug and Alcohol Grant. This option is not recommended on the basis that to not take receipt of the funding will lose the opportunity to assist more people to recover from drug and alcohol use and to move towards settled accommodation. This option would also end the activity of the current team within Nottingham Recovery Network.