Ealing Council's Cabinet has approved a new five-year contract for drug and alcohol treatment services with Change Grow Live Services Limited (CGL). The decision, made at a meeting on Wednesday, March 11, 2026, ensures the continued provision of vital support for vulnerable residents.
The contract, which can be extended for a further two years, will see CGL continue to deliver integrated community-based drug and alcohol treatment services for both adults and young people in the borough. CGL has been providing these services in Ealing for over a decade, with the council citing consistent positive feedback and evidence of meeting key performance indicators.
Contract Renewal and Performance
The council's decision to renew the contract with CGL was based on strong evidence of satisfactory performance. CGL has exceeded against the main Key Performance Indicator numbers in treatment, and shown steady progress on the measure to increase the number of prisoners with a treatment need engaging in community-based treatment within 3 weeks of release.
Furthermore, there is consistent, positive feedback with service review evidence that the service has delivered on key performance indicators and provides high quality, recovery focused treatment and recovery support, relevant to the residents and diverse population health needs in the borough.
Beyond positive feedback, CGL has demonstrated its effectiveness by developing a number of teams to improve assertive outreach and engagement with vulnerable groups including rough sleepers, women with complex needs, and those with co-existing mental health and drug and alcohol treatment needs.
The treatment system is noted as being innovative and uses data effectively to monitor groups failing to access treatment, and then designs pathways and partnerships to tackle these gaps.
Collaboration with West London Trust has also been highlighted, with CGL's dual diagnosis team's interface with Community Mental Health Teams (CMHTs) being praised, and an increase in shared treatment planning with RISE staff presence at West London Multidisciplinary Teams (MDTs) being credited to CGL.
Direct Award Justification
The direct award of the contract was deemed the most appropriate commissioning route under the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. This was permitted because CGL, as the incumbent provider, met the qualifying requirements. These include satisfying the existing contract, likely satisfying the new contract to a sufficient standard, and the proposed contracting arrangements not changing considerably. Specifically, the existing contract is ending, and a new contract is required. The current prime provider, CGL, is performing satisfactorily and expected to do so with the new contract using the key criteria under the PSR (Reg 5). The new service will not be changing significantly, defined as significantly different in the nature/ character of the contract, minor changes are allowed.
An open procurement process was considered less suitable due to the specialised nature of the service and CGL's satisfactory performance.
Contract Extension
The contract with CGL includes an option to extend for a further two years. Authority has been delegated to the Strategic Director of Adults and Public Health to exercise this option following the initial five-year period. The specific conditions that would need to be met for this extension are not detailed in the provided text.
Service Impact
The report presented to the Cabinet highlighted that the service supports vulnerable populations, including those who sleep rough and are involved in the criminal justice system, who often experience worse health outcomes. The service aims to improve overall health and wellbeing, inspiring individuals to maintain recovery and abstinence from problematic drug and alcohol use.
For more details on the Cabinet meeting, refer to the Public reports pack. The specific report on the drug and alcohol treatment service can be found here.