A NATIONAL drugs help charity which was founded in York almost 26 years ago has lost its contract to run the council’s rehabilitation services.

Compass, which employs more than 300 staff around the UK, lost out in the £1.3 million tender to Manchester-based Lifeline, which will take over running of the services on April 1.

The future of Compass’s York staff is currently not certain, but a council spokeswoman said the matter was “under discussion between Compass and the new provider”. Compass would not say how many staff were affected.

Paul Murphy, assistant director for integrated commissioning at the council, said: “City of York Council has recently undertaken a joint tendering exercise for its drug and alcohol services. The successful organisation is a national provider called Lifeline.”

Compass previously ran the region’s drug rehabilitation services for NHS North Yorkshire and York, before responsibility was given to City of York Council in October 2010.

A council spokeswoman said a new strategy in 2010 outlined key aims of drug treatment provision to increase the focus on the numbers recovering from their dependence.

She said: “The change in policy inevitably brings changes in working practice and to do this legally, CYC has to engage in a competitive tendering process.”

She said the Compass contract had an end date of March 2011, when the PCT passed it over.

Compass, which has a head office in Priory Street, declined to comment.