Purpose

a. Note the response to consultation to the
proposal for a Section 75 Agreement with Midlands Partnership
University Foundation Trust to provide drug and alcohol treatment
services.

b. Approve that the Council enter into a Section 75 Agreement with
Midlands Partnership University Foundation Trust to provide
integrated drug and alcohol treatment services from 01 April
2024.

c. Delegate authority to the Director of Health and Care, in
consultation with the Cabinet Member for Health and Care, to
develop and finalise the details of the Section 75 Agreement before
it is entered into pursuant to (b) above).

d. Delegate authority to the Director of Health and Care, in
consultation with the Cabinet Member for Health and Care, to ensure
that contingency plans are in place to ensure the sustainability of
services if alternative arrangements are required during the
lifetime of the Section 75 Agreement.

Content

The contract for the Drug and Alcohol service
with the current provider Humankind ends on 31 March 2024. The
Council have not sought a substantive contract extension and have
instead been working on a safe transition of services, by way of a
Section 75 Partnership Arrangement (subject to approval to finalise
the details) with Midlands Partnership University Foundation Trust
(MPFT), to provide drug and alcohol treatment as part of a suite of
integrated services from 01 April 2024.

The Section 75 Agreement includes expectations that drug and
alcohol services are integrated with related services both within
MPFT and with other agencies, including mental health, learning
disability, adult social care, emergency dentistry and general
health services. This is consistent with the aspirations of the
Integrated Care System as set out in the Integrated Care
Partnership Strategy.

The Section 75 Agreement is proposed for five years until 31 March
2029. The value of the Agreement is up to £8.0M annually,
therefore up to £40.0M in total. The Agreement requires
‘open book accounting’ to ensure that there is
transparency about expenditure.

Officers have been working with MPFT on the transition of the
service and mobilisation of the new arrangements, alongside
negotiating the terms of the Section 75 Agreement, in readiness for
01 April 24 and final approval, as detailed above from the Cabinet
Report dated 17 January 24.