Thank you for your request for information about the following:

Request

‘I would be most grateful if you would provide me, under the Freedom of Information Act, details in respect to the contract below.

HR Recruitment Application:

https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/0b3271f4-7c5c-46c1-b342-e43262389acc

The details we require are:

• Has a decision been made yet on whether the framework(s)/contract(s) are being either extended or renewed?

• Who is the senior officer (outside of procurement) responsible for this contract?

• What are the contractual performance KPI's for this contract?

• Suppliers who applied for inclusion on each framework/contract and were successful & not successful at the PQQ & ITT stages

• Actual spend on this contract/framework (and any sub lots), from the start of the contract to the current date

• Start date & duration of framework/contract?

• Could you please provide a copy of the service/product specification given to all bidders for when this contract was last advertised?

• Is there an extension clause in the framework(s)/contract(s) and, if so, the duration of the extension?’

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 23 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.

Has a decision been made yet on whether the framework(s)/contract(s) are being either extended or renewed?

No decision has been made and therefore, the requested information is not held by the NHSBSA.

Who is the senior officer (outside of procurement) responsible for this contract?

Phil Wilkins, Performance Manager

What are the contractual performance KPI's for this contract?

We have considered this request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA 2000) and are issuing a refusal notice under section 17 of the FOIA.

I can confirm that we do hold the requested information, but this information is exempt under section 31(1)(a) of the FOIA (law enforcement) as disclosure would be likely to prejudice the prevention or detection of crime.

The KPI information included in the contract is regarding security levels. Disclosure of this information would be likely to increase the vulnerability of the system and aid any potential cyber attacker. If a cyber attacker is aware of these KPIs, this will provide vital information and knowledge to assist them in a cyber-attack and therefore leaving the data processed in this system vulnerable.

Section 31 is a qualified, prejudice-based exemption and is subject to the public interest test. This means that not only does the information have to prejudice one of the purposes listed, but before the information can be withheld, the public interest in preventing that prejudice must outweigh the public interest in disclosure.

Public Interest Test:

Considerations in favour of disclosure:

Disclosure of the security KPI information contained in the contract with the supplier would demonstrate a commitment to NHSBSA’s transparency as a public authority.

Considerations against disclosure:

Disclosure of this information could expose the HR recruitment system utilised by the NHSBSA to the risk of a cyber-attack by providing vital information regarding the contractual security level KPIs of the supplier.

The public interest in maintaining the integrity and security of the HR recruitment system utilised the NHSBSA.

The public interest in preventing cyber-attacks and similar against systems utilised by public authorities.

The occurrence of a future cyber-attack would prejudice the NHSBSA’s legal duty to safeguard personal information from loss, theft, inappropriate access, or destruction and therefore it is not in the public interest to disclose information.

The inherent public interest in ensuring that public authorities can safeguard themselves from cyber-attacks which links to the protection of public funds.

Public Interest Test Conclusion:

The NHSBSA recognises that there is a public interest in disclosure of the information to promote transparency; however, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information as more weight is afforded to the arguments outlined above in maintaining the security and integrity of the HR recruitment system.

Please see the following link to view the section 31 exemption in full - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/31

Suppliers who applied for inclusion on each framework/contract and were successful & not successful at the PQQ & ITT stages

This contract was a direct award via a Single Tender Action. Consequently, the NHSBSA only holds the successful supplier (Civica UK Limited) and does not hold information in relation to unsuccessful suppliers.

For information, a single tender action is a direct contract with a single supplier, without competition.

Actual spend on this contract/framework (and any sub lots), from the start of the contract to the current date

£41,580.

Start date & duration of framework/contract?

We have considered this request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA 2000) and are issuing a refusal notice under section 17 of the FOIA.

The NHSBSA does hold the requested information; however, we consider that this information is exempt from disclosure under section 21 of FOIA. This provides an exemption from the duty to disclose information where this is reasonable accessible to an applicant by other means.

The start and end date of the contract can be found at the below link:

https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/0b3271f4-7c5c-46c1-b342-e43262389acc

Please see the following link to view the section 21 in full - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/21

Could you please provide a copy of the service/product specification given to all bidders for when this contract was last advertised?

Please see the following specification provided:

APPENDIX 2 – STATEMENT OF REQUIREMENTS

Scope of HR Shared Services

Providing a high quality, modern and efficient recruitment experience is paramount to NHSBSA and NHSBSA clients. The required solution will simplify the recruitment process to help attract, engage and recruit candidates quickly. It should be intuitive to use, enable automation within the process and allow for comprehensive reporting against client contracted KPI’s.

NHSBSA require a solution to:

manage the recruitment tasks and reporting, minimising the need for manual/clerical intervention.

management of the full end to end recruitment process workflow (requisition to on-boarding.

provide visibility of work on hand at all stages of the process, enabling resource planning and performance management.

provide transparency to customers and candidates as to the progress of each recruitment.

provide ease of use to all users, including applicants and recruitment managers.

migrate data from our existing provider to the new provider.

replicate existing solution interfaces.

Internal NHSBSA and external users of the solution include:

Recruitment Managers.

Administrators.

Applicants.

NHSBSA has an ambitious growth agenda for the future with potential to at least double current transactional volumes and may move to an alternative operating model as the HRSS evolves, it is essential that the solution is scalable in line with our growth strategy.

Is there an extension clause in the framework(s)/contract(s) and, if so, the duration of the extension?

Yes, there is a 12-month extension clause; however, please see the response to Q1 regarding whether a decision has been made to extend the contract.

Data Queries

If you have any queries regarding the data provided, or if you plan on publishing, the data please contact foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk ensuring you quote the above reference. This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented.

Reusing the data and copyright

If you plan on producing a press or broadcast story based upon the data please contact communicationsteam@nhsbsa.nhs.uk. This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented.

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and is subject to NHSBSA copyright. This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence detailed at:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Should you wish to re-use the information you must include the following statement: “NHSBSA Copyright 2024” Failure to do so is a breach of the terms of the licence.

Information you receive which is not subject to NHSBSA Copyright continues to be protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the information originated. Please obtain their permission before reproducing any third party (non NHSBSA Copyright) information.