Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (“CWP”) is seeking a partner (the strategic estates partner "SEP") to provide an intelligent estates strategy function to assist CWP with estates rationalisation and its capital programme for the provision of new and refurbished facilities at various sites in Cheshire and Wirral. These services will be provided to CWP through the establishment of a joint venture body (“JV”) between CWP and the SEP to deliver the schemes.

The SEP (through the JV) will be expected to plan, master-plan, develop, co-ordinate and manage schemes for new capital and refurbishment projects for CWP’s estate needs as they arise over the duration of the partnership including:

— Securing third party funding where required,

— Procuring and managing the JV’s supply chain to deliver the schemes,

— Arranging for and conducting land acquisition and disposals where applicable.

The opportunity is to provide a strategic, development, investment and project management role in delivering new projects but does not include the performance of delivering the detailed design and construction aspects of the new projects themselves. To ensure value for money is achieved at the time when the projects are initiated, and in observing EU procurement principles, it is expected that the supply chain will be competitively tendered via a secondary procurement for each new project delivered via the JV.

Initial strategic developments contemplated for inclusion in the joint venture include (but are not limited to):

(1) The construction of a new 76 bedded acute mental health inpatent unit in East Cheshire with estimated costs of 22 000 000 GBP to 25 000 000 GBP to replace the existing Millbrook Unit in Macclesfield.

(2) The reprovision of a specialist CAMHS unit comprising inpatient and educational facilities to be developed on a CWP owned site at Bowmere, Chester. New build costs estimated at 15 000 000 GBP to 20 000 000 GBP but refurbishment options may exist. This scheme also includes the disposal of the existing site at Pine Lodge, Liverpool Road, Chester.

(3) The refurbishment of Springview mental health unit, Clatterbridge, Wirral estimated cost 2 000 000 GBP. CWP also intends to approach site owners Wirral University Hospital Trust to discuss the acquisition of site with estimated cost 3 000 000 GBP.

(4) The construction of a new 15 bedded Learning Disabilities unit in Wirral estimated cost 3 500 000 GBP and the subsequent disposal of the existing Learning Disabilities site at Ashton House, Oxton, Birkenhead;and

(5) The development of two new 15 bedded secure service units at Soss Moss, Nether Alderley, near Macclesfield, East Cheshire with estimated costs of 8 600 000 GBP.

CWP is also considering an initiative for the centralisation of corporate services with resultant building rationalisations and assets disposals.

The SEP (through the JV) will also be expected to plan, develop and manage estates and other support services for CWP including:

— Providing consultancy innovation and strategies to optimise and rationalise the use of the estate,

— Providing estate management services and property management services to deliver those strategies,

— Procuring (in compliance with EU procurement principles) and managing the supply chain to deliver estates and facilities services including hard and soft facilities maintenance services and back office functions for the CWP and/or the JV,

— Arranging for, marketing and conducting disposals and acquisitions where required.

CWP currently occupies 43 sites comprising 61 buildings across Wirral and Cheshire plus shared occupation of 38 sites providing community physical health care in Western Cheshire. Space occupied totals over 52,000m2. Of this 27,500m2 is CWP owned. The estates functions will also apply to newly acquired estate during the lifetime of the partnership.

Whilst the estate function will be predominately related to CWP’s estate within the Cheshire and Wirral area, the JV will also be expected to provide an estates function in sourcing and supporting estates requirements in order for the CWP to deliver clinical services opportunities in other areas of the UK. This is expected to be predominately in the North of England, the Midlands and Wales.

It is expected that CWP and the SEP will each hold a 50 per cent interest in the JV which is intended to be established as a Limited Liability Partnership (“LLP”). Any profits and losses will be shared equally between CWP and the SEP. The funding of the activity of the JV will be discussed during competitive dialogue but it is currently expected that funding will be through injections of partnership equity (in the case of CWP this may be achieved through the transfer of land into the JV or a subsidiary rather than solely through cash injections), geared with traditional development finance. Other approaches to financing and the approach to sharing returns from the developments and services will be discussed with bidders during the competitive dialogue process.

Where the JV develops a facility for CWP, it is expected that the JV (or a subsidiary entity) will take the freehold or long leasehold interest in the site and grant a lease back to CWP for approximately 20-25 years on practical completion. It is expected that facilities maintenance services will be provided by the JV as landlord on a flexible basis.

The JV partnership with the successful SEP will be for a period of 15 years with an option (at the sole discretion of CWP) to extend the contract for a further 5 years.

CWP is also interested in the JV seeking other commercial and income generation opportunities in the public and private sector market over the long-term and such opportunities need not necessarily be restricted to the estates, development and FM services sector.

Further details of the sites and anticipated development phases are provided in the memorandum of information and pre-qualification questionnaire (see section VI.3 (Additional Information) for details of how to obtain these).