---
title: "Audit and Assurance Services Dynamic Purchasing System"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-0290d7"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-0290d7"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0290d7.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0290d7.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "COUNTESS OF CHESTER HOSPITAL NHS FOUNDATION TRUST"
published: "2025-05-29"
---

# Audit and Assurance Services Dynamic Purchasing System

Buyer: COUNTESS OF CHESTER HOSPITAL NHS FOUNDATION TRUST  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-0290d7

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## Summary

The ongoing procurement process initiated by the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust focuses on the establishment of an "Audit and Assurance Services Dynamic Purchasing System". This procurement is primarily in the services category and pertains to accounting, auditing, and fiscal services, targeting various UK public sector bodies. The procurement process is at the tender stage, with updates reflecting full service coverage including statutory and independent audit requirements, counter-fraud services, and other assurance services. The initiative has transitioned to the Atamis e-tendering portal for future applications. The process allows unrestricted access to eligible users through a dynamic purchasing system, with critical deadlines now extended to February 2029. The tender details have evolved significantly, with the overall framework being valued at £40 million excluding VAT and extending over a period of up to 95 months.

This tender presents substantial business opportunities, especially for firms specialised in offering comprehensive audit and assurance services. Businesses in the accounting, auditing, and fiscal services industry can leverage this dynamic purchasing system to secure long-term engagements with various UK public sector entities. These organisations will benefit from the wide scope of services required, ranging from statutory audits to risk management and tax compliance. Companies with expertise in governance, risk assessment, and regulatory compliance are well-positioned to thrive. Additionally, the procurement method being open and electronically facilitated through an updated e-tendering portal suggests ease of access and increased participation potential for diverse suppliers across the UK, stimulating growth within the professional service sector.

## Notice

The DPS includes all forms of independent audit for UK public sector bodies, including statutory external audit requirements. Also in scope are are governance requirements including counter-fraud services and other independent assurance such as: * Assurance over non-financial information including but not limited to strategy, risk and corporate governance * Assurance over KPIs including but not limited to environmental reporting, sustainability reporting and workforce reporting * Compliance monitoring and risk management * Grant funding assurance including but not limited to programme reviews and impact assessments * Service auditor reports including but not limited to ISAE 3402 standards * Special purpose reviews and investigations * Tax compliance * Third party risk management including supply chain assurance * Well led governance reviews * Workforce audit services including but not limited to temporary, fixed term or permanent staffing (clinical and non-clinical)

### Lot Information

Lot Lot 1 Internal audit & assurance

Lot 1 Core Services * Advice on governance, risk management and controls including but not limited to o IT o Finance o Human resources; and o Facilities management * Benchmarking and quality assurance review of internal audit performance including external quality assessment * Development of internal audit strategy and/or methodologies * Outsourced, co-sourced or one-off internal audit services

Lot Lot 2 External audit

Lot 2 Core Services * External statutory audit to provide an independent assessment of financial statements * Advice on financial statements and related documents * Grant audits and certification

Lot Lot 3 Counter-fraud & investigation

Lot 3 Core Services * Advice and/or assessment of: o fraud awareness training and/or changes to legislation o fraud risk plan and/or support in improving risk management o fraud prevention and detection strategy o whistleblowing policies and procedures o approach to proactive testing in high risk areas * Fraud risk assessment and fraud maturity matrix * Use of technology including but not limited to data analytics to support the delivery of proactive counter-fraud services including fraud detection * Counter-fraud investigation Optional non-core Services in addition to the Core Services: * Corporate intelligence techniques * Financial irregularity investigations * Investigation of non-financial irregularities incl. regulatory breaches & misconduct * Investigation of suspected fraud, bribery or corruption * Investigation of whistleblower allegations and tip offs * Forensic extraction and review of structured and unstructured digital evidence * Support to deliver criminal investigations in counter-fraud including capability to conduct interviews that are compliant with police & criminal evidence legislation * Expert witness services * Use of data analytical technology tools and techniques to investigate fraud * Upskilling of new technology and techniques of fraud detection

Lot Lot 4 Other independent assurance

Lot 4 Core Services * Assurance over non-financial information including but not limited to strategy, risk and corporate governance * Assurance over KPIs including but not limited to environmental reporting, sustainability reporting and workforce reporting * Compliance monitoring and risk management * Grant funding assurance including but not limited to programme reviews and impact assessments * Service auditor reports including but not limited to ISAE 3402 standards * Special purpose reviews and investigations * Tax compliance * Third party risk management including supply chain assurance * Well led governance reviews * Workforce audit services including but not limited to temporary, fixed term or permanent staffing (clinical and non-clinical)

Lot 1

The Trust wishes to agree a contract for external audit services covering the next three years from 2022/23 to 2024/2025 with the possibility to extend for a further two years beyond that. Included in the tender response should be an indicative plan for Year 1.

The auditor will be required to meet all requirements, including but not limited to, the accounting and reporting requirements as set out in the Comptroller and Auditor General's Code of Audit Practice which applies for 2020-21 audits and beyond - The Audit Office Code of Audit Practice (the code), the NHS Foundation Trust Code of Governance (updated July 2014), the NHS Foundation Trust Annual Reporting Manual and the National Health Service Act 2006 as amended.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/028368-2025 |
| Notice type | Tender Notice |
| Procurement type | Dynamic |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Open |
| Procurement method details | Open procedure |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Tender, Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 29 May 2025 |
| Submission deadline | 8 Mar 2021 |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 31 Jan 2023 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £2,000,000 |
| Lots value | £2,000,000 |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £557,456 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Active, Cancelled |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | COUNTESS OF CHESTER HOSPITAL NHS FOUNDATION TRUST |
| Additional buyers | CAMBRIDGESHIRE AND PETERBOROUGH FOUNDATION TRUST; THE ELIGIBLE USERS OF THE DYNAMIC PURCHASING SYSTEM ARE AVAILABLE FOR UNRESTRICTED AND FULL DIRECT ACCESS, FREE OF CHARGE, AT: HTTPS://WWW.COCH-CPS.CO.UK/; THE ELIGIBLE USERS OF THE PROPOSED DYNAMIC PURCHASING SYSTEM ARE AVAILABLE FOR UNRESTRICTED AND FULL DIRECT ACCESS, FREE OF CHARGE, AT: HTTPS://WWW.COCH-CPS.CO.UK/; THE ELIGIBLE USERS OF THE PROPOSED DYNAMIC PURCHASING SYSTEM ARE AVAILABLE FOR UNRESTRICTED AND FULL DIRECT ACCESS, FREE OF CHARGE, AT: HTTPS://WWW.COCH-CPS.CO.UK/FRAMEWORKS/CORPORATE-SERVICES/#DPS07; THE ELIGIBLE USERS OF THE PROPOSED DYNAMIC PURCHASING SYSTEM ARE AVAILABLE FOR UNRESTRICTED AND FULL DIRECT ACCESS, FREE OF CHARGE, AT: WWW.NHSSOURCING.CO.UK |
| Locality | CHESTER |
| Post town | Chester |
| Postcode | CH2 1UL |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLH East (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLH4 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough |
| ITL 3 | TLH42 Cambridgeshire CC |
| Local authority | South Cambridgeshire |
| Electoral ward | Fen Ditton & Fulbourn |
| Westminster constituency | South Cambridgeshire |
| Delivery location | TLH12 Cambridgeshire CC |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | AZETS HOLDINGS |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

### Codes

- 79000000 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security
- 79200000 - Accounting, auditing and fiscal services
- 79212000 - Auditing services
- 79212200 - Internal audit services
- 79212300 - Statutory audit services
- 79212400 - Fraud audit services
- 79700000 - Investigation and security services

## Release History

- 29 May 2025 at 09:42 - TenderUpdate - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/028368-2025
- 29 Jan 2025 at 10:43 - TenderUpdate - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/002937-2025
- 15 Dec 2023 at 10:55 - TenderUpdate - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/036914-2023
- 20 Nov 2023 at 10:34 - TenderUpdate - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/034216-2023
- 17 Nov 2023 at 20:51 - TenderUpdate - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/034184-2023
- 10 Mar 2023 at 20:04 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/007150-2023
- 5 Feb 2021 at 22:56 - Tender - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/002416-2021

## Notice URLs

- http://www.nhssourcing.co.uk
- https://health-family.force.com/s/Welcome
- https://services.atamis.co.uk/docs/Supplier_User_Guide.pdf
- https://www.azets.co.uk/services/audit-assurance/
- https://www.coch-cps.co.uk/
- https://www.coch-cps.co.uk/frameworks/corporate-services/#DPS07
- https://www.coch.nhs.uk/
- https://www.cpft.nhs.uk/
- https://www.nhssourcing.co.uk
- https://www.sbs.nhs.uk/

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-0290d7. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0290d7.json.