The Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership - Find a freedom of information request

1. When did Lincolnshire County Council appoint Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership to deliver its substance use treatment and recovery service? When did that appointment go into effect? When will it expire?

2. How was Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership chosen by Lincolnshire County Council to deliver substance use treatment and recovery services? Was there a bidding process? If yes, please provide me with a copy of Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership's bidding application.

3. Was the appointment of Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership by Lincolnshire County Council subject to a written contract agreement? If yes, please provide me with a copy of the contract.

4. What service(s) is Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership required to provide pursuant to the written contract agreement? Is Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership required to provide overnight homeless accommodation and rough sleeper support services?

5. How often does Lincolnshire County Council perform a formal review of Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership to ensure that they are providing the agreed to services? When was the last review performed? Step-by-step explain the review process?

6. How much money does Lincolnshire County Council pay Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership per annum to deliver its substance use treatment and recovery service?

7. How much money per annum did Lincolnshire County Council pay to the prior service provider 'We Are With You' to perform those same services? Why was the contract with 'We Are With You' not renewed?

8. Specifically, what treatment and recovery services does Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership provide? Does that include the provision of residential detox/rehab services? If yes, please explain in detail how residential detox/rehab services are provided?

9. What percentage of the total monies paid by Lincolnshire County Council to Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership are carved out specifically for residential detox/rehab services?

10. What is the process to receive residential detox/rehab treatment services at Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership? Please state in detail step-by-step the application process?

11. Which person(s) at Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership are responsible and have authority to approve or disapprove residential detox/rehab services? Does Lincolnshire County Council play any part in the application/approval process for residential detox/rehab services at Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership? If, yes, which person(s), including their title, plays such a part in the application/approval process?

12. Typically, how long does it take for a Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership client to receive residential detox/rehab treatment from the point of application to approval? Which entity or entities provide the actual residential detox/rehab services? Where does residential detox/rehab treatment take place and how long does treatment typically last for?

13. Since its appointment, how many Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership clients have been approved for residential detox/rehab services?

14. Since its appointment, how many Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership clients have been denied residential detox/rehab services?

15. How does Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership determine that a client should be approved for residential detox/rehab services?

16. How does Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership determine that a client should be denied residential detox/rehab services?

17. Which Lincolnshire County Council department/division is responsible for overseeing and ensuring that the agreed to support and services are being provided by Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership? Who are the members of that department/division? Who is the head of that department/division, including email address and telephone number? Please explain in detail what that oversight entails, including investigatory powers and review, etc.? Does that oversight include review of the condition of the Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership facility? Does that oversight include the quality and qualification of Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership staff members, including their ability to effectively provide the agreed to services?

18. Since its appointment, has Lincolnshire County Council received any complaints regarding the services provided by Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership? If yes, please state the number of complaints, including the nature of those complaints?

19. Since its appointment, has Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership been reviewed and inspected by the Care Quality Commission? If yes, please provide me with a copy of the report.

20. What is the organizational structure of Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership? Who are the members/principals of Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership? Is Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership a for profit or non-profit organization?

21. Since its appointment, please detail how Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership has spent the monies received from Lincolnshire County Council, and what, if any, monies remain?

22. How many people are employed by Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership? Please state their job titles/roles? What percentage of the total monies paid by Lincolnshire County Council to Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership is for salaries?

23. Who owns the Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership premises located at 26-30 Newland, Lincoln, LN1 1XG? Does Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership lease those premises? If yes, please provide me with a copy of the lease agreement.

I can confirm that the information requested is held by Lincolnshire County Council. I have detailed below the information that is being released to you.

1a. The contract commenced on 1st April 2024.

b. Contract duration is 5 years with the option to extend for 2 + 2 years (Total contract length 9 years)

2a. This procurement was undertaken in accordance with paragraphs 74 to 76 of the Public Contract Regulations 2015 by way of the “Light Touch Regime” and utilised an Open Tender process.

b. Under Section 43 of the freedom of information act, the awarded provider has deemed the information as commercially sensitive.

3. LRP have a written contractual agreement with LCC for the delivery of the service.

This contract is deemed as commercially sensitive.

4a. LRP is commissioned to provide drug and alcohol treatment and recovery services within Lincolnshire. This includes support to adults and young people

b. Overnight and supported accommodation does not form part of this contract. Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership is commissioned to provide assertive outreach to people who are sleeping rough as part of the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government Rough Sleeping Drug & Alcohol Treatment Grant allocation for Lincoln, Boston and East Lindsey.

5a. The performance of the service is monitored through LCC’s quarterly contract monitoring arrangements and through an annual review

b. LCC operate to a contract management framework, whereby contract management meetings are held a minimum of quarterly and cover (as a minimum) areas such as demand and performance, finances, quality/incidents, staffing and operations. An annual review is conducted each year, which involves a deep dive into contract compliance, quality assurance, staffing and continuous improvement. Risk is monitored on an ongoing basis through an internal risk matrix for the service.

The last full contract management meeting was held on 18th March 2025, and no annual review has yet taken place due to the contract still being within its first year.

6. The total budget allocated to Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership in 2024-25 is £8,154,376.56.

The amount per annum throughout the duration of the contract will be subject to variation due to fluctuating grant funding from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID, in the Department for Health and Social Care).

7a. Funding to We Are With You for 2023-24 was £7,132,678.24.

It should be noted that the services provided under the We Are With You contract ending 31st March 2024 were not the exact same as those now provided by the Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership.

The OHID grant for 2024/25 increased funding to enhance certain elements of service provision.

b. The FOI Act is for recorded information only.

8a. Support includes harm reduction, pharmacological and psychosocial interventions, recovery support including mutual aid. b. Yes. Residential rehabilitation and inpatient detox are treatment options that can be accessed as per individual clinical need. Please see the response to Q10 & Q11 for more detail

9. Access to inpatient detox and residential rehabilitation is needs led and therefore the budget for this provision is not fixed.

10. The process for accessing residential rehabilitation and inpatient detox is managed by the Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership and is available as per clinical need and patient choice.

This is decided by a variety of measures which include clinical assessment, the development of a robust pre and post detox plan, a stable housing plan, motivation to change, and a willingness to engage in detox and rehab groups.

All decisions are made in line with the Drug misuse and dependence: UK guidelines on clinical management.

11a. The Detox and Rehab panel at LRP approves requests for residential rehabilitation or inpatient detox. The panel consists of the Clinical Service Manager / Non-Medical Prescriber, Tier 4 Detox/Rehab Lead, Senior Operations Manager/Mental Health Nurse, Operations Manager, Recovery Operations Manager, and a lived experience member of staff. All decisions are made in line with the Drug misuse and dependence: UK guidelines on clinical management. The panel meets every fortnight to review detox and rehab applications

b. No. N/a

12a. There are no stipulated timeframes for accessing residential rehabilitation or inpatient detox as this will be dependent on an individual’s clinical need. When agreed by the Detox / Rehab panel, a referral will be made to the detox provider. The detox provider aims to provide an admission date within 6 weeks of the referral being made. This length of time can be extended when waiting for a residential rehab bed, as discharge from detox needs to be lined up with the rehab admission date to ensure a seamless transfer.

b. Inpatient detox takes place at a facility in the East Midlands, and as residential rehabilitation is spot purchased this could be in a variety of locations. Inpatient detox can last between 7 and 21 days. Residential rehabilitation can last between 2 and 6 months.

13. Since 1st April 2024, 20 clients have been approved for detox and 9 clients have been approved for residential rehabilitation.

14. Clients that are assessed as suitable for inpatient detox or residential rehabilitation will not be denied these treatment options.

If the panel decides a client is not yet 'ready' or that an admission could be unsafe, a plan will be put in place for that client to work towards accessing detox or rehab. LRP will not set up clients to fail and will collaborate with the client to ensure the plan is patient led, effective, and safe.

15. Approval for inpatient detox and rehabilitation is based on clinical need.

16. Clients that have a clinical need for inpatient detox or residential rehabilitation will be offered this as a treatment option and will not be denied access to this provision. Clients may be offered a place at inpatient detox or residential rehabilitation but choose not to accept it.

17a. The Public Health Division and the Adult Care Commercial Team are responsible for overseeing the services provided by LRP. The heads of each department are named below.

b. Derek Ward is the Director of Public Health and his email address is derek.ward@lincolnshire.gov.uk.

The Head of Commercial is Alina Hackney and her email address is Alina.Hackney@lincolnshire.gov.uk.

The contact number is 01522 782155

c. LCC operate to a contract management framework, whereby contract management meetings are held a minimum of quarterly and cover (as a minimum) areas such as demand and performance, finances, quality/incidents, staffing and operations. An annual review is conducted each year, which involves a deep dive into contract compliance, quality assurance, staffing and continuous improvement.

Risk is monitored on an ongoing basis through an internal risk matrix for the service. There are escalation processes within the contract, ranging from the implementation of an Improvement Plan through to formal dispute resolution.

d. Public Health visit premises as part of annual reviews to ensure they will be clinically compliant with CQC regulations. CQC inspect places of care and the quality of the environment

e. A training matrix is requested from the service as part of the annual review process. Staffing form part of the annual review, including how staff are trained and supported

18. Since the contract start date of 1st April 24, LCC has received one complaint about LRP. The complaint was multifaceted and focused on the quality of the service

19. The service delivered by LRP has not yet been subject to CQC inspection. Following inspections all CQC reports are published online.

20. Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership consists of three non-profit organizations that are Turning Point, Double Impact and Framework Housing Association

21. The funding from LCC has been spent on treatment and recovery services as per the contract. All funding is committed.

22. The total number of employees and total amount of funding used for salaries is commercially sensitive information.

23. LRP leases the premised located at 26-30 Newland, Lincoln. LCC does not have a copy of the lease agreement