Notice Information
Notice Title
External Finance Support
Notice Description
This contract commissions time-limited external support to assist Cardiff and Vale University Health Board in responding to a significant and worsening financial position while operating under Welsh Government oversight and escalation arrangements. The Health Board is forecasting a 56.2m GBP deficit in 2025/26, compared to a 27.7m GBP deficit outturn in 2024/25, and faces a material underlying financial gap in 2026/27 that cannot be addressed through business-as-usual savings alone. In the context of the 2026/27 planning round and the requirement to demonstrate a credible medium-term route to financial sustainability, the Board has agreed to commission independent support to identify the scale and nature of change required to alter the current financial trajectory. The purpose of the assignment is to develop a finite, decision-grade set of approximately five to seven high-impact options that explicitly set out what activity, services or sites would need to slow, stop, be consolidated, decommissioned or traded off in order to materially improve the financial position in 2026/27 and demonstrate a credible path to medium-term financial balance. The focus is on making the consequences of affordability explicit rather than developing narrative strategies, consensus or recommendations on preferred options. Each option must be articulated in granular operational terms, including affected services or sites, the nature of the change, workforce implications linked directly to service and activity change (including WTE impact), financial impact and phasing, delivery dependencies and constraints, and key risks and trade-offs including impacts on access, quality, safety and workforce. Options must clearly distinguish between what could realistically contribute in 2026/27 and what would deliver benefit in later years. The work will complement existing internal savings programmes, bring independent challenge and judgement, avoid optimism bias and untested productivity assumptions, and be delivered at pace within a tight timeframe. Outputs must be suitable for Board consideration and engagement with Welsh Government. The external support will provide analysis and option appraisal only, with all substantive outputs completed by no later than 31 March 2026.
Lot Information
Lot 1
This contract commissions time-limited external support to assist Cardiff and Vale University Health Board in responding to a significant and worsening financial position while operating under Welsh Government oversight and escalation arrangements. The Health Board is forecasting a 56.2m GBP deficit in 2025/26, compared to a 27.7m GBP deficit outturn in 2024/25, and faces a material underlying financial gap in 2026/27 that cannot be addressed through business-as-usual savings alone. In the context of the 2026/27 planning round and the requirement to demonstrate a credible medium-term route to financial sustainability, the Board has agreed to commission independent support to identify the scale and nature of change required to alter the current financial trajectory. The purpose of the assignment is to develop a finite, decision-grade set of approximately five to seven high-impact options that explicitly set out what activity, services or sites would need to slow, stop, be consolidated, decommissioned or traded off in order to materially improve the financial position in 2026/27 and demonstrate a credible path to medium-term financial balance. The focus is on making the consequences of affordability explicit rather than developing narrative strategies, consensus or recommendations on preferred options. Each option must be articulated in granular operational terms, including affected services or sites, the nature of the change, workforce implications linked directly to service and activity change (including WTE impact), financial impact and phasing, delivery dependencies and constraints, and key risks and trade-offs including impacts on access, quality, safety and workforce. Options must clearly distinguish between what could realistically contribute in 2026/27 and what would deliver benefit in later years. The work will complement existing internal savings programmes, bring independent challenge and judgement, avoid optimism bias and untested productivity assumptions, and be delivered at pace within a tight timeframe. Outputs must be suitable for Board consideration and engagement with Welsh Government. The external support will provide analysis and option appraisal only, with all substantive outputs completed by no later than 31 March 2026
Planning Information
Given the urgency of the tender, market research was undertaken directly by the end user.
Notice Details
Publication & Lifecycle
- Open Contracting ID
- ocds-h6vhtk-060280
- Publication Source
- Find A Tender Service
- Latest Notice
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/012299-2026
- Current Stage
- Award
- All Stages
- Planning, Award
Procurement Classification
- Notice Type
- UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
- Procurement Type
- Standard
- Procurement Category
- Services
- Procurement Method
- Selective
- Procurement Method Details
- Restricted procedure
- Tender Suitability
- Not specified
- Awardee Scale
- Large
Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)
- CPV Divisions
79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security
-
- CPV Codes
79412000 - Financial management consultancy services
Notice Value(s)
- Tender Value
- £1,500,000 £1M-£10M
- Lots Value
- Not specified
- Awards Value
- Not specified
- Contracts Value
- £600,000 £500K-£1M
Notice Dates
- Publication Date
- 11 Feb 20261 weeks ago
- Submission Deadline
- Not specified
- Future Notice Date
- 12 Jan 2026Expired
- Award Date
- 10 Feb 20261 weeks ago
- Contract Period
- 28 Feb 2026 - 28 Feb 2026 24 hours
- Recurrence
- Not specified
Notice Status
- Tender Status
- Complete
- Lots Status
- Cancelled
- Awards Status
- Active
- Contracts Status
- Active
Buyer & Supplier
Contracting Authority (Buyer)
- Main Buyer
- NHS WALES SHARED SERVICES PARTNERSHIP-PROCUREMENT SERVICES (HOSTED BY VELINDRE UNIVERSITY NHS TRUST)
- Contact Name
- Gracie Westlake, Lowri Crossman
- Contact Email
- gracie.westlake@wales.nhs.uk, lowri.crossman@wales.nhs.uk
- Contact Phone
- +44 2921501500, +442921500801
Buyer Location
- Locality
- CARDIFF
- Postcode
- CF14 4HH
- Post Town
- Cardiff
- Country
- Wales
-
- Major Region (ITL 1)
- TLL Wales
- Basic Region (ITL 2)
- TLL5 South East Wales
- Small Region (ITL 3)
- TLL52 Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan
- Delivery Location
- TLL22 Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan
-
- Local Authority
- Cardiff
- Electoral Ward
- Heath
- Westminster Constituency
- Cardiff North
Further Information
Notice Documents
-
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/001731-2026
9th January 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)
View full OCDS Record for this contracting process
The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.
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