---
title: "SC240067 - East Kent Drug and Alcohol Service"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-04af82"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-04af82"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04af82.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04af82.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "KENT COUNTY COUNCIL"
published: "2024-10-21"
---

# SC240067 - East Kent Drug and Alcohol Service

Buyer: KENT COUNTY COUNCIL  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-04af82

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## Summary

Kent County Council has concluded the procurement process for the East Kent Drug and Alcohol Service under the contract SC240067, following a Direct Award C procedure as per The Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. The procurement, categorised under rehabilitation services (CPV: 85312500), aims to ensure the continuity of substance misuse services vital for public health in the Kent region (UKJ4). The contract is valued at £43,461,175.80 and was awarded to The Forward Trust, with services set to start on 1st February 2025 and ending on 31st January 2029. This award comes at the completion stage of the procurement process, with the contract signed on 21st October 2024. The evaluation panel, including key members such as Commissioner Max Guest and Senior Commissioner Rebecca Eley, assessed the provider based on quality, innovation, and social value among other criteria.

This tender represents a significant opportunity for businesses specialising in healthcare, particularly those focused on substance misuse and rehabilitation services. The well-aligned procurement supports strategic local and national healthcare objectives, thereby presenting an advantageous position for suppliers within the public health and social care sectors. Given the contract’s alignment with the Kent County Council’s strategic plans and the substantial financial commitment, businesses that can showcase robust evidence of past performance, innovative practices, and social value contributions are well-suited to benefit from such opportunities. Service providers able to integrate seamlessly with existing frameworks and demonstrate a long-term improvement in health outcomes stand to grow their business within this critical public health domain.

## Notice

It is the intent of the Council to award 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. This contract under the Adult Kent Drug and Alcohol Services is due to expire on 31 January 2025 and therefore a procurement was required to ensure the continuity of the services from the 1st February 2025. 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.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

It is the intent of the Council to award 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 2029 Name of Award Decision maker(s) The individuals involved in writing the assessment template were - Max Guest - 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. -Alan Luke -Jess Mookherjee -Rebecca Rhodes -Chris Beale -Alison Newman The Director of Public Health Anjan Ghosh took the decision to intend to award the contract. A summary of the assessment as to whether The Forward Trust 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. Heading Titles (Key Criteria, Moderated Score. Numerical Value, Weighting, Weighted Score) 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 C 85 25 21.25 Integration, collaboration and service sustainability C 85 20 17 Improving access, reducing health inequalities, and facilitating choice C 85 20 17 Social value C 85 10 8.5 87 PASS as score is greater than minimum score required of 80 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 C 85 25 21.25 Value C 85 25 21.25 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 C 85 10 8.5 88.2 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 The Forward Trust 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.

### Procurement Information

The Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023 Direct Award C procurement procedure

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/033901-2024 |
| Notice type | Award 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 |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 21 Oct 2024 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 20 Oct 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 | £43,461,175 |

## Status

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

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | KENT COUNTY COUNCIL |
| Locality | MAIDSTONE |
| Post town | Rochester |
| Postcode | ME14 1XQ |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLJ South East (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLJ4 Kent |
| ITL 3 | TLJ45 Mid Kent |
| Local authority | Maidstone |
| Electoral ward | Penenden Heath |
| Westminster constituency | Maidstone and Malling |
| Delivery location | TLJ4 Kent |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | THE FORWARD TRUST |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 85 - Health and social work services

### Codes

- 85312500 - Rehabilitation services

## Release History

- 21 Oct 2024 at 09:47 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/033901-2024

## Notice URLs

- http://www.kent.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-04af82. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04af82.json.