---
title: "All-Age Recovery Coordination Service (AARCS)"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-047b6a"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-047b6a"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-047b6a.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-047b6a.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "ESSEX COUNTY COUNCIL"
published: "2024-10-29"
---

# All-Age Recovery Coordination Service (AARCS)

Buyer: ESSEX COUNTY COUNCIL  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-047b6a

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## Summary

Essex County Council has awarded a contract for the All-Age Recovery Coordination Service (AARCS), aimed at providing support for individuals with drug and alcohol misuse issues. The service will offer evidence-based interventions and ongoing support for those exiting the treatment system. The procurement falls under the Health Care Services Provider Selection Regime (PSR) and was executed via Direct Award Process C. The contract commenced on 1st October 2024 and will initially run for five years, with an option to extend for an additional two years, potentially ending on 30th September 2031. The maximum value of the contract over its seven-year term is £13,702,836.

This tender offers substantial business growth opportunities, particularly for providers in the community health services sector. Companies that excel in delivering tailored health interventions and possess strong integration and collaboration capabilities are well-suited for this contract. The procurement method ensures that experienced providers like the incumbents, Church of England Children's Society and Open Road Solutions Limited, have demonstrated their capacity to meet the high standards required. This not only encourages continuity and quality but also ensures the delivery of social value within the community health sector in Essex, fostering long-term business stability and growth.

## Notice

Essex County Council ("the Council") are re-commissioning an All Age Recovery Co- ordination Service (AARCS) for people with drug and alcohol misuse issues. AARCS provides a range of evidence-based interventions shaped to meet individual needs, as well as ongoing support for individuals who have exited the service/treatment system but who may experience instances of need for acute recovery support. Please be advised that this notice is designed to record the Council's intention to award a contract to deliver the AARCS service under the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023 ("Provider Selection Regime") via Direct Award Process C as detailed below.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

Following the conclusion of the internal governance process, Essex County Council ("the Council") is due to award a contract to deliver the AARCS service to the two (2) incumbent providers under the Direct Award Process C of the Provider Selection Regime. Please note that the award of the contract for this service remains subject to the successful conclusion of the standstill period as detailed within section IV of this notice alongside the full organisational details of the incumbent providers. AARCS provides a range of evidence-based interventions shaped to meet individual needs, as well as ongoing support for individuals who have exited the service/treatment system but who may experience instances of need for acute recovery support. This service is being commissioned under an initial term of five (5) years with an option to extend for a further two (2) years, thereby resulting in a maximum contractual duration of seven (7) years. The commencement date of this contract will be 1st October 2024 with an expiry date of 30th September 2029 pending the enactment of the optional extension period. For the avoidance of any further doubt, please be advised that if the extension period is enacted, the contract will expire on 30th September 2031. Please be advised that the stated contract value within section II.I.7 of this notice reflects the aggregate value for the maximum seven (7) year term based on an annual value of PS1,957,548. Following the Council's assessment of the incumbent providers' delivery of the current service against the key criteria within the Provider Selection Regime as outlined below, the Council is assured that the providers are delivering the current AARCS contract to a sufficient standard. Furthermore, the Council is satisfied that the providers will satisfy the proposed new contract to a sufficient standard following a review of the following key criteria: 1. Quality and Innovation 2. Value 3. Integration, collaboration and service sustainability 4. Improving access, reducing health inequality and facilitating choice 5. Social Value Please be advised that each of the above noted key criteria was assigned an equal weighting of 20%. In addition, the Council conducted this assessment on the basis of the providers' delivery of the contractual key performance indicators alongside due consideration of the national performance of analogous services as reported by the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System. The latter part of the Council's assessment of the current service demonstrated that the current provision is performing favourably and exceeding the recorded national evidence across multiple reporting fields. In addition, the Council assessed the financial value of the current service in line with the reported CIPFA indicators for unit costs of similar services which demonstrated that this service performs favourably in comparison with both neighbouring and comparable local authorities. In terms of integration, collaboration and service sustainability, the Council has secured positive evidence that both incumbent providers have successfully delivered joint working including but not limited to collaborative work with local schools and Essex Police during the delivery of the current service and this engagement is due to continue under the proposed contract. Furthermore, the Council has secured robust evidence of positive levels of engagement from the individuals who have accessed the service and completed a recovery programme. In terms of social value, the incumbent providers have demonstrated a commitment to utilising local knowledge of the demographics and geography including insight of any areas of deprivation which is critical to delivering a placed based approach to the delivery of the AARCS service.

### Procurement Information

This is a Provider Selection Regime (PSR) intention to award notice. The awarding of this contract is subject to the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 do not apply to this contract. The publication of this notice marks the start of the standstill period. Representations by providers must be made to the decision-makers in writing by Friday 19th July 2024 at midnight. This contract has not been formally awarded; this notice serves as an intention to award under the PSR.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/034995-2024 |
| Notice type | Tender Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Limited |
| Procurement method details | Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large, SME |
| All stages | Tender, Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 29 Oct 2024 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 24 Jun 2024 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £13,702,836 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Cancelled |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | ESSEX COUNTY COUNCIL |
| Locality | CHELMSFORD |
| Post town | Chelmsford |
| Postcode | CM1 1QH |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLH East (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLH3 Essex |
| ITL 3 | TLH36 Heart of Essex |
| Local authority | Chelmsford |
| Electoral ward | Moulsham and Central |
| Westminster constituency | Chelmsford |
| Delivery location | TLH3 Essex |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 2 |
| Supplier names | CHURCH OF ENGLAND CHILDREN'S SOCIETY T/A THE CHILDREN'S SOCIETY; OPEN ROAD SOLUTIONS LIMITED T/A OPEN ROAD |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 85 - Health and social work services

### Codes

- 85100000 - Health services
- 85323000 - Community health services

## Release History

- 29 Oct 2024 at 12:20 - TenderUpdate - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/034995-2024
- 8 Jul 2024 at 08:08 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/020717-2024

## Notice URLs

- https://www.essex.gov.uk/

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-047b6a. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-047b6a.json.