See guidance below.

There were none declared

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 3 February 2026 to be signed by the Chair as a correct record.

The Cabinet Member approved the minutes of the meeting held on 03 February  2026, as an accurate record of the proceedings.

Any county councillor may, by giving notice to the Proper Officer by 9 am three working days before the meeting, ask a question on an item on the agenda.

The number of questions which may be asked by any councillor at any one meeting is limited to two (or one question with notice and a supplementary question at the meeting) and the time for questions will be limited to 30 minutes in total. As with questions at Council, any questions which remain unanswered at the end of this item will receive a written response.

Questions submitted prior to the agenda being despatched are shown below and will be the subject of a response from the appropriate Cabinet Member or such other councillor or officer as is determined by the Cabinet Member, and shall not be the subject of further debate at this meeting. Questions received after the despatch of the agenda, but before the deadline, will be shown on the Schedule of Addenda circulated at the meeting, together with any written response which is available at that time.

Cllr Sargent, Shadow Cabinet Member for Public Health and Inequalities, addressed the meeting on agenda item 5 and 6.

Members of the public who wish to speak on an item on the agenda at this meeting, or present a petition, can attend the meeting in person or ‘virtually’ through an online connection.

Requests to present a petition must be submitted no later than 9am ten working days before the meeting.

Requests to speak must be submitted no later than 9am three working days before the meeting.

Requests should be submitted to committeesdemocraticservices@oxfordshire.gov.uk

If you are speaking ‘virtually’, you may submit a written statement of your presentation to ensure that if the technology fails, then your views can still be taken into account. A written copy of your statement can be provided no later than 9am on the day of the meeting. Written submissions should be no longer than 1 A4 sheet.

There were no requests.

Report by Director of  Public Health and Communities

RECOMMENDATION

The Cabinet Member is RECOMMENDED to:

a. Approve the proposal to commission a Substance Use Service for Children and Young People through a procurement exercise and transition to a new 7-year contract on a 3-year initial term with the option to extend for up to 4 years in aggregate. The budget for this service will be up to £700,000 per year as set out in section 5 below, funded by ringfenced drug and alcohol funding within the Public Health Grant.

b.    Delegate to the Director for Public Health authority to manage the service design for the procurement and following completion of the procurement exercise award the contract to the successful bidder.

The Cabinet Member considered a report which indicated that under the Health and Social Care Act 2012, the County Council had a duty to improve the health of the local population by ensuring that there were services aimed at reducing substance use. Furthermore, the delivery of Children and Young Person’s Substance Use Services contributed to the fulfilment of that duty.

The proposal was for continuing the Oxfordshire Children and Young People’s Substance Use (CYPSU) Service beyond 31 March 2027 and recommended proceeding with commissioning a new service model through a competitive process under the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023.

In response to the Cabinet Member and the Shadow Cabinet Member the following was indicated:

·       Public Health grant funding had been confirmed to 2026/27, with indicative funding for the following two years.

·       Future unitary authorities would retain statutory Public Health responsibilities, and the procurement would be designed to provide flexibility for future arrangements.

·       While the outcome of Local Government Reorganisation was expected shortly, detailed implementation arrangements would follow.

·       The Council therefore needed to continue planning to meet population needs.

·       The future distribution mechanism for Public Health funding had not yet been determined.

·       Co-production would inform the service specification, including learning from current service users, a lived experience advisory group and engagement through relevant youth, health and social care routes.

·       The headline benchmark measured structured treatment only and did not reflect preventative or lower-intensity activity.

·       Improvement activity would focus on referral pathways, workforce 

sustainability, recruitment, market engagement and system 

awareness.

·       External procurement was preferred due to the specialist nature of the service, provider expertise, economies of scale and flexibility during Local Government Reorganisation.

The Cabinet Member noted the matters raised and considered the proposed commissioning approach appropriate, having regard to the statutory requirement to provide the service and the context of Local Government Reorganisation.

Resolved to:

a.    Approve the proposal to commission a Substance Use Service for

Children and Young People through a procurement exercise and transition to a new 7-year contract on a 3-year initial term with the option to extend for up to 4 years in aggregate. The budget for this service will be up to £700,000 per year as set out in section 5 below, funded by ringfenced drug and alcohol funding within the Public Health Grant.

b.    Delegate to the Director for Public Health authority to manage the

     service design for the procurement and following completion of the

     procurement exercise award the contract to the successful bidder.

Report by Ansaf Azhar, Director of Public Health and Communities

RECOMMENDATION

The Cabinet Member is RECOMMENDED to:

a.    Approve the recommissioning of Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC), NHS Health Checks (NHSHC), and Drug Use Shared Care with eligible providers under the applicable direct award process of the Provider Selection Regime (PSR) as set out in this report.

b.    Approve the recommissioning of Pharmacist Supervised Consumption of Prescribed Opiate Substitution Therapy, Needle Exchange Programme and Take-Home Naloxone services with eligible providers under the applicable direct award process of the Provider Selection Regime (PSR), as set out in this report.

c.    Delegate authority to the Director of Public Health to award contracts to eligible providers to provide these services for four years, plus three, from 1^st April 2027.

The Cabinet Member considered a report which indicated that the services covered included Long-Acting Reversible Contraception, NHS Health Checks, Drug Use Shared Care services within primary care, and Pharmacist Supervised Consumption of Prescribed Opiate Substitution Therapy, Needle Exchange Programme and Take-Home Naloxone, within community pharmacy settings

Both DAPL Agreements and associated call-off contracts commenced on 1 April 2022 for a period of four years, were extended for one year under the current contracts, and were due to expire on 31 March 2027.

The current total annual contract value for the Primary Care DAPL was a maximum of £1,354,800 per annum. The proposed total annual contract value for the new Primary Care DAPL contract was approximately £1,540,000 per annum, with a maximum whole-life contract value of approximately £10,780,000.

The current total annual contract value for the Community Healthcare (Pharmacy) DAPL was £270,000 per annum. The proposed total annual contract value for the new Community Healthcare DAPL contract was a maximum of £293,000 per annum, with a maximum whole-life contract value of approximately £2,051,000.

In response to the Cabinet Member and the Shadow Cabinet Member the following was indicated:

·       Consultations were private and services were open access.

·       Confirmed this would be expected under the Dynamic Approved Provider List. Service users would be provided with sharps bins, and returns could also be made through the Community Drug and Alcohol Treatment Service and some GP practices.

·       The medication was available through the community drug and alcohol treatment provider but not through the pharmacy service under consideration.

RESOLVED to:

a)    Approve the recommissioning of Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC), NHS Health Checks (NHSHC), and Drug Use Shared Care with eligible providers under the applicable direct award process of the Provider Selection Regime (PSR) as set out in this report.

b)    Approve the recommissioning of Pharmacist Supervised Consumption of Prescribed Opiate Substitution Therapy, Needle Exchange Programme and Take-Home Naloxone services with eligible providers under the applicable direct award process of the Provider Selection Regime (PSR), as set out in this report.

c)    Delegate authority to the Director of Public Health to award contracts to eligible providers to provide these services for four years, plus three, from 1st April 2027.