Legal advice for MARS Scheme

Tender description

A Mutually Agreed Resignation Scheme (MARS) is a form of voluntary severance, designed to enable employees to leave their employment voluntarily in return for a severance payment. Critical to the MARS is for the employee to seek independent legal advice which is paid for by the Trust. In the 2025/2026 scheme, this cost more than £20,000 paid across several legal firms. For a potential 2026/2027 scheme the Trust is seeking to contract with a single provider using an agreed pricing structure which limits duplication and saves time and money whilst still achieving the required level of independence. A call-off contract will be awarded to the chosen provider with no guarantee of volume of work, due to the unpredictability of the number of staff who will take up the MARS offer.