L&D and RECONNECT Services, Enhanced RECONNECT Services and MH Treatment Requirement Services

Descriptions

North of England Commissioning Support (NECS) is a commissioning support service working for and on behalf of NHS England - North West (the Relevant Authority), who are undertaking a competition to commission Liaison and Diversion and Reconnect Services, Enhanced Reconnect Services and Mental Health Treatment Requirement Services for Lancashire and Cumbria under the NHS Standard Contract.

Liaison and Diversion Services - Liaison and Diversion (L&D) services aim to provide early intervention for vulnerable people as they come to the attention of the criminal justice system. L&D services provide a prompt response to concerns raised by the police, probation service, youth offending teams or court staff, and provide critical information to decision-makers in the justice system, in real time, when it comes to charging and sentencing these vulnerable people.

Reconnect and Enhanced Reconnect Services - RECONNECT seeks to improve the continuity of care of vulnerable people leaving prison by working with them before they leave and support their transition to community-based services, thereby safeguarding health gains made whilst in prison. RECONNECT services aim to improve the wellbeing of people leaving prison, reduce inequalities and address health-related drivers of offending behaviours.

The Enhanced RECONNECT (ER) service builds upon the RECONNECT programme as an enhanced pathway of care. The ER service will work in collaboration with partners, including those from across government to ensure that individuals that have been identified as high risk to the public and have complex health needs that may impact on their risk of reoffending. This may include, but is not limited to, violent and sexual offenders, terrorist act offenses and those at risk of terrorism. This risk must be related to a health need.

Mental Health Treatment Requirement Services - Three Community Sentence Treatment Requirements (CSTRs) were introduced in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 as many offenders experience mental health and substance misuse issues that are proven to underpin their offending behaviour. Treatment requirements offer courts an alternative to custodial sentences (especially short custodial sentences) and seek to prevent reoffending, by addressing the underlying vulnerabilities.

This specification will be focusing on the provision of Primary Care MHTRs. Primary Care MHTRs provide assessment, treatment, and interventions for those whose mental health issues don't cross the threshold of secondary care services, but also may present with additional health, social care, and substance misuse issues.

This service provides a clinical assessment and therapeutic pathway of support for those whose offence crosses the community order threshold, including secondary care MHTRs which may also be combined with either an Alcohol Treatment Requirement (ATR) or Drug Rehabilitation Requirement (DRR).

Services will be delivered in Lots:

Lot 1 will be the Liaison and Diversion and RECONNECT contract

Lot 2 will be the Enhanced RECONNECT contract

Lot 3 will be the Mental Health Treatment Requirement Services contract.

The contract terms for Lot 1 and Lot 3 are for 5 years commencing on 01 April 2026, with an option to extend for a further 3 years at the discretion of the Relevant Authority and subject to satisfactory contractual and financial performance.

Lot 2 is a fixed term 1-year contract, with effect from 01 April 2026.

All contracts are existing contracts.

The deadline for submission of competition responses is 12 noon on 01 October 2025.