Thank you for your request for information about the following:

Request

ESR Transformation Programme:

Please provide the following information:

The total cost of the project so far

A breakdown of the total cost of the project

The initial projected cost of the project and the current estimated cost of the project

The initial expected cost of the project and expected completion date of the project

Details of the project scheduling specifying any delays or areas which are over budget and the current expected completion date of the project

Date range: 01/01/2019 - 06/09/2024

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 6 September 2024.

We have handled your request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000

Our response

I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds the information you have requested.

Publicly Available Cost Information

Under Section 21 of the FOIA we are not required to provide information in response to a request if it is already reasonably accessible to you. Some information is published in our publication scheme. Some costs attributable to the Workforce Transformation programme can be found at the below web link.

https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/spend-over-ps25000

Downloading each month’s data, and searching for “Workforce Transformation” will allow you to locate some of the costs related to the programme. Please note that this only applies to data from September 2022 onwards, before which the costs under this header included other projects/things which weren’t exclusively for the current workforce transformation programme. Please also note that the payment made to Ernst & Young in October 2022 was later refunded.

Publicly Available Tender Information

Information on the procurement timescales and contract value can be found at the below web link:

https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/023129-2022?origin=SearchResults&p=1

Remaining Cost Information

The information you requested is being withheld as it falls under the exemption in section 43(2) of the FOIA.

In applying this exemption, we have balanced the public interest in withholding the information against the public interest in disclosing the information.

Please see the below web link to see the exemption in full.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/43

Considerations in favour of disclosure:

• The inherent public interest in the openness and transparency of public authority dealings.

• The public interest that officials are spending money wisely and getting the best value for money.

Considerations against disclosure:

• The Programme is currently undertaking negotiation activity with bidders as part of a live procurement, as the contract has not yet been awarded. Further details, including the final value of the contract, will be issued in the Contract Award Notice upon conclusion of the procurement activity which is anticipated from Summer 2025.

• In a commercial environment, the timing of a disclosure is of critical importance. Information relating to commercial activity is at its most sensitive when the procurement activity is still underway.

• It is likely that the present negotiations would be compromised, by weakening the authority’s negotiating position, which would result in a greater expense to the taxpayer overall.

Conclusion:

The NHSBSA recognises that there is a public interest in the disclosure of information which facilitates openness, transparency, and accountability in public authority dealings; however, there is an inherent public interest in the NHSBSA being able to work in competitive markets, whereby the financial and reputational benefit is put to the wider public interest.

Having undertaken the balancing exercise, the NHSBSA concludes that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

Publishing this response

Please note that this information will be published on our Freedom of Information disclosure log at:

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-02210

Your personal details will be removed from the published response.