Agenda item

To recieve a report providing background information to the consultation process which started on 4 November2014 in relation to the Substance misuse services.  Th eservcies have been identified as part of the Councils Spending Review Programme for 2016/17, and the city council is exploring whether £1million could be saved from the overall pooled substance misuse budget of £8.3 million.

In order to achieve a new service model within the reduced financial envelope the consultation exercise has been designed to gain the views of key stakeholders over the future design of services.

Members recieved a report providing background information to the consultation process which had started on 4 November 2014 in relation to the Substance Misuse Services.  The servcies have been identified as part of the Councils Spending Review Programme for 2016/17, and the city council was exploring whether £1million could be saved from the overall pooled substance misuse budget of £8.3 million.

In order to achieve a new service model within the reduced financial envelope, the consultation exercise has been designed to gain the views of key stakeholders over the future design of services.

The Head of Commissioning, Care Services and Commissioning, Adult Social Care stated that key stakeholders had been engaged in the consultation which would end in December.  The consultation approach had been planned to take place in two stages.  The current consultation was aimed at assess the need and interest in providing a combined Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland service which could also include HMP Leicester and areas of need.  Three other areas of service were also being considered as part of the consultation.  These were the needs of young adults, new and emerging drugs and meeting the needs of Leicester’s diverse population.  The second part of the consultation would be more focused on the design of the services following the outcome of the first consultation.

Following questions from members, the Head of Commissioning stated:-

·         41 responses had been received so far been received to the online consultation.

·         The consultation was targeted towards stakeholders, providers, users and carers.

·         A report on the outcome of the consultation and the way forward would be produced.

·         The Housing Department had recently let a 12 month contract for an element of the service which was currently outside the contract period for the remaining services.  This 12 month contract would allow it to be included with the other services in any future contracts if a combined approach was pursued.

·         There were benefits in having a combined Leicester Leicestershire and Rutland provision as it would give a consistent delivery of the service which would help recipients if they moved between the current three providers.  There would also be savings to be achieved through economies of scale.

Members also commented that:-

a)         The service should not be reviewed in isolation as it had implications for other services and these needed to be taken into account.  An Impact Assessment should be produced to consider the financial impact upon acute health services if funds were taken from the preventative measures carried out in the primary care and social care sector.  There were also implications for anti-social behaviour, crime and disorder as well and health and wellbeing in reducing the provision of these services.

b)         The Healthwatch representative also commented that VAL did not reach all interested stakeholders and groups such as Lesbian Gay, Bisexual and Trans, Somali and East European communities, Race Equality Centre, mental health groups and Healthwatch etc should also be contacted.

c)         It was also important to take account of those who do not currently engage with the service and the impact of change population changes.

RESOLVED:

1.         That the report be received and noted and that Commission receive a further report on the outcomes of the current consultation exercise.

2.         That the Commission consider this issue again before the end of the current municipal year.