RM6397 Lot 6 of 12
RM6397 Lot 6: IT Professionals and Digital Workers
Technology, digital and data staff for NHS and public sector transformation, infrastructure and service delivery. Part of the £2 billion excluding VAT (£2.5 billion including VAT) NHS Workforce Alliance framework, which replaces RM6281 (clinical and healthcare staffing) and RM6277 (non-clinical staffing).
Submissions close 3pm on Monday 21 September 2026 (11 days remaining). Clarification questions close 3pm on 2 September 2026.
Lot 6 at a glance
- Framework
- RM6397 Clinical and Non-Clinical Temporary and Permanent Staff
- Buyer
- Government Commercial Agency, for the NHS Workforce Alliance
- Submissions close
- 3pm on Monday 21 September 2026
- Clarifications close
- 3pm on 2 September 2026
- Framework value
- £2 billion excluding VAT (£2.5 billion including VAT)
- Term
- Four years from February 2027
- Portal
- CCS/GCA Bravo Solution (Jaggaer)
- Supplier numbers on this lot
- Indicated as unlimited
- Staff groups in scope
- Software engineers and developers, infrastructure and network engineers, cyber security specialists, data engineers and analysts, business analysts, digital project and programme staff, and service desk and support roles.
Who should bid this lot
Technology recruitment agencies, digital and data staffing specialists, cyber security contractor suppliers, and agencies supplying NHS digital transformation programmes.
The general rule across RM6397 is to bid the lots you can evidence rather than the lots you would like to hold. Evaluators score depth of evidence per lot, not breadth of ambition, and providers who bid three lots properly consistently outperform those who spread thin across eight.
The compliance discriminator for Lot 6
Security clearance handling and IR35 administration dominate here. Contractor supply is the norm rather than the exception, so status determination support, right-to-work and clearance verification, and how you handle a contractor moving between public sector engagements all get probed.
What actually scores
Named NHS or public sector digital programmes with roles filled and durations. NHS digital work has specific context, from clinical systems and interoperability standards to information governance, and agencies that can evidence supply into that context rather than generic tech recruitment separate themselves immediately.
The mistake that loses marks on this lot
Bidding on the strength of a commercial technology desk with no public sector delivery, and describing candidate quality rather than supply reliability. The buyer's problem is a vacant role on a funded programme, not a shortage of good CVs, and the submission should answer the problem they have.
Lot 6 questions
Is security clearance required for NHS digital contractor supply?
It varies by role and by organisation rather than applying uniformly. Baseline Personnel Security Standard checks are common, and clearance requirements rise for roles touching national systems or sensitive data. What matters in the submission is evidencing that you verify and track clearance properly, and that you can supply cleared people without the clearance process becoming the delay.
Does this lot compete with G-Cloud or Digital Outcomes routes?
They serve different purchases and are not alternatives. This lot supplies people into a client-managed team. G-Cloud buys hosted services and Digital Outcomes and Specialists buys delivered outcomes and specialist roles under supplier management. A technology business selling both staff augmentation and delivered outcomes usually needs positions on more than one route.
Lot names, the framework value and the timetable were last reviewed on 21 August 2026. Published summaries of RM6397 differ on the submission date and on the term commencement, so treat the ITT on the CCS/GCA Bravo Solution (Jaggaer) portal as the only authority. See the full RM6397 guide for the detail on those discrepancies.
The other eleven RM6397 lots
Most providers bid more than one. Each lot has its own regulator, evidence expectations and characteristic failure mode.
See also the RM6397 framework guide, the NHS tender pipeline and the NHS Workforce Alliance overview.
Bidding Lot 6? The evidence is the work
Getting fill rates, compliance audit outcomes and named contract references out of your operational systems and written to the published criteria is what decides the score, and it is the part providers start too late. Call 020 3668 5488 or send us the deadline and we will come back with a Teams time.
RM6397 Lot 6: IT Professionals and Digital Workers
Which lots are you bidding, and what does your it professionals and digital workers evidence look like today?