Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust seeking to procure provider for provision of specialist town planning legal advice

The £1.2m contract is for the provision of specialist planning legal services, providing legal advice, drafting, negotiation, advocacy support and representation across the full range of town and country planning and related matters arising under the law of England and Wales.

The scope includes, but is not limited to:
• Strategic planning advice, risk assessment and legal input on planning strategy and the programme of consents;
• Advice on planning applications, consents, conditions, variations and certificates of lawfulness;
• Heritage, listed building and related statutory consents;
• Negotiation and drafting of section 106 agreements, unilateral undertakings and Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) advice;
• Highway and transport agreements under sections 278 and 38 of the Highways Act 1980;
• Management of planning appeals, inquiries and hearings, including instruction of counsel and expert witnesses;
• Enforcement and compliance advice, including responses to enforcement notices and related appeals;
• Judicial review and statutory challenge advice under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990;
• Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) and biodiversity net gain advice;
• Governance, committee and decision-making advice, and information rights support.

According to the Trust, the appointed provider will be expected to deliver “responsive, commercially focused” legal advice on a matter-by-matter basis, working as part of an integrated professional team and co-ordinating with the Trust's planning consultants and the wider design and construction programme.

The Trust operates from a live, occupied acute site and places a strong emphasis on stakeholder engagement, transparency and the management of planning risk.

The contract is expected to run from 10 December 2026 to 10 May 2028.