Transparency data

Federated Data Platform Programme: accounting officer assessment

Updated 17 October 2025

Applies to England

It is normal practice for accounting officers to scrutinise significant policy proposals or plans to start or vary major projects, and then assess whether they measure up to the standards set out in Managing public money.

From April 2017, the government has committed to make a summary of the main points from these assessments available to Parliament when an accounting officer has agreed an assessment of projects within the Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP).

Background and context

NHS England is investing in a Federated Data Platform and Associated Services (FDP AS) to support health and care organisations to:

• make the most of the information they hold
• work together to understand patterns, solve problems and plan services for their local populations

The FDP approach will enable the continued rapid spread of innovation by enabling local NHS trusts, integrated care systems (ICSs) and innovators to build solutions on a platform that can facilitate sharing and scaling across the health and care system in a secure way, reducing duplication and improving efficiency.

The FDP AS will provide trusts and ICSs with a set of core capabilities and nationally developed solutions. Initially, these solutions will focus on supporting 5 core NHS priorities (known as the ‘5 use cases’):

• elective recovery
• vaccination and immunisation
• population health management
• care co-ordination
• supply chain management

A number of pilots were implemented using the current data platform to test the capabilities and benefits.

Assessment against the accounting officer standards

Regularity

The proposal to invest in FDP AS:

• has legal basis, Parliamentary authority and HM Treasury (HMT) authorisation
• is compatible with the agreed spending budgets

As part of the government’s mandate 2022 to 2023 to NHS England (presented to Parliament pursuant to section 13A of the National Health Service Act 2006), FDP AS supports the delivery of 4 out of 5 of the objectives set.

NHS England can procure FDP AS as a contracting authority and for the benefit of additional contracting authorities under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and possesses relevant public law powers in sections 2 and 13YA of the National Health Service Act 2006

Both the outline and full business case were developed in line with HMT Green Book standards, and have been ratified by the appropriate NHS, Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), Cabinet Office and HMT approval channels.

Propriety

The FDP is a core service requirement for the NHS and will replace the current functionality of the Foundry platform which includes, but is not limited to, COVID-19 and flu vaccinations and personal protective equipment (PPE) stock management.

In addition, the Improving Elective Care Co-ordination for Patients (IECCP) and Optimised Patient Tracking and Intelligent Choices Application (OPTICA) pilots have been delivering significant benefits. Without the procurement of the FDP AS, the ability to continue to roll out and scale these solutions could not be achieved.

The full business case has undergone robust governance checks, including with Cabinet Office and HMT, and, as part of the GMPP, the programme is subject to external gate reviews from the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) (now the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA)), which is providing independent assurance scrutiny and reporting quarterly through the GMPP data collection.

Value for money

The procurement process was designed to deliver value for money for NHS England and the wider system through a transparent and scalable pricing model. The objective of the procurement was to select the supplier that provides the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT).

As an indication of expected benefit, the full business case estimates that the FDP will realise benefit in the order of £780 million over the 7-year appraisal period. This includes the potential for FDP to deliver the following:

• cash-releasing benefits in the order of £60 million per year within 5 years, and a total of £304.9 million across the appraisal period
• non-cash-releasing benefits in the order of £55 million per year within 5 years, and a total of £282.3 million across the appraisal period
• societal benefits in the order of £38 million per year within 5 years, and a total of £189.6 million across the appraisal period

The outline business case benefits model aggregated all benefits and profiled them against a single adoption profile for the platform. This produced a strong benefits position, but did not account for variability in uptake between different products. Development of our approach to rollout has evolved and benefits can now be differentiated between national or platform benefits, and product benefits. This changes the benefit-cost ratio, but the full business case retains a strong value for money argument. The full business case indicates a benefit-cost ratio of 4.92.

Feasibility

The programme can be implemented accurately, sustainably and to the intended timetable.

There are no major feasibility or deliverability issues with regards to the full business case. The FDP AS programme underwent an IPA Gateway Review 3: Investment Decision in July 2023 with an ‘amber rating’. The recommendations made as part of the review have been factored into the final stages of the procurement, implementation planning and programme management activities.

A further Gateway Review 4: Readiness for Service was held in March 2024 with another ‘amber rating’ and recommendation to proceed in advance of the FDP going live. Regular engagement with stakeholders across government will continue, as conditions associated with the full business case are delivered and closed.

In the full business case, the programme has outlined the ways of working, which describe the operating model requirements of the platform and set out the high-level responsibilities of the successful supplier. This includes proposed approaches to delivery, product management and contract management. The programme team is finalising the implementation plan with the successful suppliers.

The contract incorporates strict mechanisms and controls for managing performance through a series of service level agreements (SLAs) and key performance indicators (KPIs). The required contract management and governance structures are agreed.

Conclusion

In conclusion, as accounting officer, I am clear that the proposed approach is proper, regular, feasible and offers good value for money for the Exchequer. This summary sets out the main points that informed my approval decision.

As the responsible accounting officer for DHSC, I considered this assessment of Federated Data Platform Programme and approved it on 29 May 2024. 

The assessment was first conducted in March 2023 at the point of outline business case approval and re-evaluated in August 2023 at the point at which the programme entered onto the GMPP.

Approval of the full business case was obtained in November 2023, and this assessment was further reviewed and updated in April 2024.

I have prepared this summary to set out the main points that informed my decision. If any of these factors change materially during the lifetime of this project, I undertake to prepare a revised summary setting out my assessment of them.

This summary will be published on GOV.UK. Copies will be deposited in the Library of the House of Commons and sent to the Public Accounts Committee Chair, Comptroller and Auditor General, and Treasury Officer of Accounts.

The delay in publication of this summary is a result of the timing, which coincided with the pre-election period for the last general election. Further delays were experienced due to structural changes at a senior level. The programme has since entered its delivery phase and anticipated benefits exceed the values set out at the point of the accounting officer assessment being carried out.

Shona Dunn, DHSC Accounting Officer
29 May 2024