Costing Assurance Programme

The National Tariff (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-tariff-payment-system-2014-to-2015) contains national prices for healthcare and rules that commissioners and providers of NHS funded services (the "Providers") must follow when agreeing locally-determined prices for healthcare.

In order to produce national prices, Monitor requires accurate and relevant Cost Submissions ('approved reporting currencies' and 'approved guidance', currently Reference Costs) from the providers of NHS funded services.

The Objectives of the Costing Assurance Programme are to:

- Improve the accuracy and consistency of Cost Submissions used to set national, and agree local, prices.

- Provide assurance that Mental Health and Acute Providers' Cost Submissions have been prepared in accordance with Monitor's Approved Costing Guidance.

- Assess the overall accuracy of Cost Submissions by Providers.

It is expected that an Opinion on every Acute Provider's compliance with Monitor's Approved Costing Guidance will be given over a two-year cycle (estimated to be around 78 Providers per year), with Mental Health Providers over a three-year cycle (estimated to be around 22 Providers per year). The actual number of audits carried out per year will be approved by Monitor at the start of each year.

The Successful Supplier shall be required to:

- Provide Opinions on whether circa100 Providers' Cost Submissions have, in all material respects been prepared in accordance with Mo...der the Contract remains unchanged.

- Monitor's Approved Costing Guidance is published annually and, whilst incremental changes will be made annually, significant changes are not expected in the first three (3) years of the Contract. The following changes are planned to this Guidance and the service requirements during the term of the Contract:

- The requirement for Providers to prepare Reference Cost Submissions in accordance with the clinical costing standards on a "comply or explain" basis will be removed from June 2016. Monitor will issue new clinical costing standards to be complied with by Providers after this date.

- Monitor's Approved Reporting Currencies defines the Cost Submissions that Providers must complete; currently this is in the form of Reference Costs though will transition to patient level information and costing systems ("PLICS").

- It is currently intended that Acute Providers will submit both Reference Costs and PLICS submissions in 2018/19 (the Approved Reporting Currencies from this date) and only PLICS submissions from 2019/20 onwards. It is expected that PLICS submissions will be audited in the fourth and fifth year of the Contract.

Out of Scope

- The Monitor Benchmarker (formerly known as the PbR National Benchmarker), which was originally part of the PbR assurance framework is out of scope.

For further information in relation to Monitor's scope of requirements under the Contract, please see the Statement of Requirements document.