Following the PIN published on FTS on 19 April 2021, publication reference: 2021/S 000-008192, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is undertaking a competitive tender process under the Open Procedure, in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (the "Regulations").

Our core regulatory and charitable activities are setting standards of conduct and practice, approving education courses under which nurses, midwives and nursing associates qualify to practise in the UK, maintaining the register of professionals eligible to practise, and investigating concerns over professionals' fitness to practise. Our fitness to practise activities represent around half of our total direct resources expended.

We are inviting Registered Auditors to bid for the external audit of our financial statements for a term of up to 10 years, starting with the year ending 31 March 2022.

NMC requires a high quality external audit delivered in an efficient manner by an auditor with high integrity and reputation. The external auditor should use specialists and industry experts to ensure they clearly understand our organisation and are able to provide a value-added service.

The aim of this procurement process is to invite bids for the provision of External Audit of the NMC's financial statements, for the year ending 31 March 2022 onwards. As a summary, this includes:

The NAO place reliance on the work of Council-appointed auditors, so it is essential that our auditors work effectively with the NAO, and the NAO are confident in their work. You will be required to provide an opinion for the NAO and share any of your working papers with the NAO on request.

Our overarching objective is the protection of the public, and we are a registered charity, but our finances are much simpler and more secure than many charities: we have no voluntary income, or charity shops, or branches or subsidiaries. So we have less need for charity expertise from our auditors than other charities might, but charity expertise is still relevant and desirable.

Our key operations include the maintenance of our register and our fitness to practise process, and our income is almost entirely made up of our registration fees. Experience of working with other regulatory or membership organisations and understanding of those business processes is desirable.

In practise we prepare our annual report and accounts broadly in accordance with the HM Treasury Financial Reporting Manual (FReM), which impacts significantly on the content of the annual report, and to a limited extent on the disclosures in the notes to the accounts. Understanding of the requirements of the FReM is, therefore, desirable.

The external auditor is required to meet all relevant standards defined by law and by all appropriate regulators. The external auditor will need to demonstrate that these standards have been met.