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Intent to direct award to CIPFA for training on leadership in public sector finance roles

WLGA

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Award

06 Oct 2026 at 16:37

UK5 - Transparency Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) is procuring leadership training for senior public-sector finance staff in Welsh local government, including Section 151 officers and colleagues who support those statutory roles. The CIPFA LEAD programme combines leadership development with the governance, political accountability and public-finance responsibilities specific to these posts. Modules cover development against the CFO Competency Model, stakeholder engagement and the political environment, with learning applied to participants’ own work challenges. Delivery is a mix of virtual and in-person sessions, structured to limit time away from authorities and designed for serving finance leaders. The programme is intended to develop future senior finance leaders and support succession planning across Welsh local authorities. Delivery is in Wales.

The process is complete and the contract has been awarded to CIPFA through a below-threshold direct award without competition. The award is recorded as pending. The award date is not stated. The award value is £80,000 excluding VAT (£96,000 including VAT). The contract period runs from 1 November 2026 to 31 July 2027; signature was scheduled for 19 October 2026. There is one lot, marked suitable for SMEs and voluntary, community and social enterprises. The stated basis for the direct award is that CIPFA is considered uniquely able to combine recognised public-finance expertise with leadership training tailored to Welsh local government’s statutory and regulatory context. The authority also cites continuity with the existing cohort and peer network, alongside strong reported satisfaction and recommendation results from the 2025–26 cohort.

For suppliers considering comparable future work with the WLGA, this award shows that credibility depends on more than general leadership or management training. A competitive provider would need a strong grounding in public-sector finance and the statutory responsibilities of Section 151 officers, alongside leadership development covering governance, political accountability, stakeholder relationships and stewardship of public funds. The programme is intended for established finance leaders, so delivery needs to fit around senior roles: a blend of virtual and in-person learning, limited time away from authorities, and practical application to participants’ live challenges. Experience supporting Welsh local government and developing future senior finance leaders would be relevant. The buyer’s stated emphasis on continuity, a shared competency framework and an established cross-authority peer network indicates that a new provider would need a clear way to build comparable sector relationships and sustain learning across a cohort.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Intent to direct award to CIPFA for training on leadership in public sector finance roles

Notice Description

CIPFA LEAD occupies a genuinely distinct position in the leadership development marketplace, and one that cannot be readily replicated by a generic leadership or management training provider. It is the only programme, in our view, that combines CIPFA's standing as the recognised professional body for public finance with a leadership curriculum built specifically around the statutory realities of the Section 151 and other senior roles that support it in UK local government. The programme explores political accountability, governance failure, guardianship of the public purse, and the technical currency that S151 officers and their teams are required to hold. A general leadership provider could offer coaching, stakeholder management or resilience training in isolation; only CIPFA can embed that development within the actual regulatory, governance and technical context in which Welsh finance leaders operate. The programme's structure is itself evidence of a deliberately flexible, rather than an off-the-shelf leadership course. Delivery is mixed between virtual and in-person modules, sequenced to minimise time away from the authority, and deliberately avoids formal examination or heavy homework, recognising that participants are serving finance leaders, not full-time students. Each module is built to be applied directly against participants' own live challenges, from the CFO Competency Model's individual development discussion in Module 2 through to the practical stakeholder and political-environment content in Modules 3 and 4. This is a programme designed to flex around the demands of the role, not one participants must reshape their working lives to fit. The 2025-26 Wales cohort (the first of its kind) provides direct, current evidence that this approach delivers. The programme achieved a mean satisfaction score of 4.8 out of 5, with 100% of participants agreeing or strongly agreeing with the programme's core outcome statements and 100% saying they would recommend it to a peer. Participant testimonials specifically credit the programme with building confidence as a finance leader and creating a genuine peer network across the sector: a benefit that is only available by continuing with CIPFA, since it depends on the existing Wales-wide finance leadership cohort and relationships CIPFA has already established, not something a new provider could offer from a standing start. Continuity with CIPFA for 2026-27 also directly addresses the workforce capacity and succession planning risk that the programme was created to respond to. Welsh local authorities face a well-documented pipeline challenge in developing future S151 officers and other senior finance leaders and running the same LEAD framework for a second year sustains a common leadership language and competency framework across the Welsh finance community, builds on the alumni network already established, and avoids the cost, delay and lost momentum of re-procuring and re-designing an equivalent programme with an unproven alternative provider. Given the demonstrated outcomes, the sector-specific depth CIPFA alone can offer, and the direct continuity benefit to succession planning across Welsh local government, CIPFA represents the only supplier capable of delivering this programme to the required (high) standard, and a single tender award is justified on grounds of both quality and value for money

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-078205
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/094432-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK5 - Transparency Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Below threshold - without competition
Tender Suitability
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

80 - Education and training services

CPV Codes

80511000 - Staff training services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£80,000 Under £100K
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
6 Oct 2026Today
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
1 Nov 2026 - 31 Jul 2027 6-12 months
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Pending
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
WLGA
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
CARDIFF
Postcode
CF10 5BF
Postcode Area
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
Not specified
Local Authority
Cardiff
Electoral Ward
Butetown
Westminster Constituency
Cardiff South and Penarth

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

CIPFA

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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