In March 2021, Government Business Services launched the 'Shared Services Strategy for Government (SSfG): 2022 and Beyond'. This strategy created the concept of five clusters of departments, each cluster sharing a common set of process, common cloud-based ERP and ancillary systems and a single shared service centre to deliver corporate services across Finance, Procurement, Human Resources (HR) and Payroll.

This direction has led each cluster to set up a programme team with associated governance and steering oversight to:

1. Combine the process design and operational model thinking to deliver a centralised single shared service model; and

2. Define and deliver a standard systems architecture that can support the in-scope business process (Finance, Procurement, HR and Payroll).

The Unity Cluster programme has been commissioned to deliver the SSfG strategy for the following Departments and their associated agencies and relevant Arms Length Bodies (ALBs):

• HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC);

• Department for Transport (DfT); and

• Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)

The objectives of the Unity programme are to:

• Design and operate a centralised Finance, Procurement, HR and Payroll shared service function;

• Operate a standard set of processes that are fit for the purposes of all Unity Departments;

• Design, build, deploy and operate a standard, single set of systems that are scaled to the future and that deliver performant services underpinning the business processes; and

• Migrate data from the Unity Departments' existing systems to the new target Unity systems such that each business process continues to operate without disruption.

This procurement has been awarded to procure the services (i.e. technical professional services) that are required to enable the technical transformation of the Unity cluster.

The Authority has awarded a contract to a Technical Delivery Partner delivering systems integration services, on behalf of the departments within the Unity Programme, to ensure the delivery of high quality, value for money (VfM), shared Finance, Procurement, HR and Payroll services which meet the needs of service users.