NHS procurement consortium appoints 11 firms to re-procured legal services framework agreement

April 19, 2021

The NHS North of England Commercial Procurement Collaborative (NoE CPC) has re-procured its framework agreement for the provision of legal services, awarding the contract to 11 law firms.

The consortium's contract award notice, published last week (16 April), says the framework is intended to provide participating authorities with compliant and efficient access to several high-quality legal services providers.

Firms appointed to the contract will provide a range of legal services to the NHS and other healthcare providers, including:

NHS Governance and Public Law
Healthcare Law
Mental Health Law
Employment Law
Contract and Commercial Law
Property Law
Corporate Finance and PFI.

The successful firms were:

Addleshaw Goddard
Bevan Brittan
Browne Jacobson
Capsticks Solicitors
DAC Beachcroft
Hempsons Solicitors
Hill Dickinson
Mills & Reeve
Sintons
Ward Hadaway
Weightmans

The contract award notice does not disclose the estimated worth of the new framework.

According to NoE CPC, the framework builds upon its previous framework implemented in April 2017, which was worth an estimated £50m. The main differences in selection are that Addleshaw Goddard has been added to the list of firms, while Cater Leydon Millard are no longer on the panel.

Contracting authorities using the framework will benefit from "free initial telephone consultations, legal training and workshops, and highly competitive rates with fixed price options", the consortium says.

The framework began on 1 April 2021 and will run for two years until 31 March 2023. The contract has an option to extend 2x12 months.

Adam Carey