Government & Procurement
Palantir holds a £330 million, seven-year NHS contract from November 2023 to run the Federated Data Platform, used by more than half of NHS trusts. Reports indicate Andy Burnham, the frontrunner to become the next Prime Minister, may end the contract at its March 2027 break clause, which requires formal notice by December 2026.
Last reviewed 3 July 2026
The FDP was procured through open competitive tender and is designed to avoid vendor lock-in, with a built-in exit route. Political pressure to end it centres on Palantir's access to identifiable patient data and its political associations, not on the procurement process itself.
Key Facts
- Contract value: £330 million over 7 years, awarded November 2023
- Break clause falls March 2027; formal notice required by December 2026 to trigger it
- More than half of NHS trusts in England currently use the Federated Data Platform
- Andy Burnham granted Palantir zero contracts during 9 years as Greater Manchester mayor
- Greater Manchester ICB already runs its own alternative on Microsoft Azure, Snowflake and Tableau
- Sheffield became the first UK council to formally oppose the contract, 24 June 2026
What the contract actually is
NHS England awarded a consortium led by Palantir Technologies UK a seven-year, £330 million contract in November 2023 to build and run the Federated Data Platform (FDP), a system that lets NHS trusts and integrated care systems share and analyse operational data. The consortium also includes Accenture, PwC, Carnall Farrar and NECS. According to NHS England's own published contract explainer, the FDP was procured through a competitive, open-tender process and is now used by more than half of NHS trusts in England, with the platform credited by supporters with speeding up cancer diagnosis pathways in some trusts.
The contract has a break clause that falls in March 2027. To trigger it, an incoming government would need to give formal notice by December 2026.
Why the contract is politically live now
Reporting from the Telegraph indicates Andy Burnham, the frontrunner to succeed Keir Starmer as Prime Minister as early as 20 July 2026, is minded to end the Palantir contract when the break clause window opens. Burnham granted Palantir no contracts during his nine years as Mayor of Greater Manchester, and the Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board has separately built its own alternative data platform using Microsoft Azure, Matillion, Snowflake and Tableau rather than adopting the FDP.
An aide close to Burnham has said he believes "unfettered tech boosterism" is turning off voters, and Technology Secretary Liz Kendall has publicly questioned whether Palantir's leadership and politics belong in healthcare. The Starmer government had already left the door open to ending the arrangement at the break clause but had not committed to doing so before Burnham's expected succession.
The data access concerns behind the political pressure
The contract has drawn sustained criticism over how much access Palantir staff have to identifiable patient data. NHS England's own officials have previously warned that expanding external staff access to a broader, less case-by-case approval model risked a "loss of public confidence" in the system. On 24 June 2026, Sheffield became the first UK council to formally pass a motion opposing the FDP contract, citing concerns raised by the British Medical Association, Medact and Amnesty International, and calling on ministers to terminate the contract at its 2027 review point.
What ending the contract would actually involve
NHS England's contract explainer states the FDP was designed with a seven-year term specifically to avoid vendor lock-in, with contractual limitations, exit planning and technical standards intended to allow the platform to migrate to a different supplier if required. In practice, more than 100 NHS trusts and integrated care systems currently rely on the platform, so unwinding it would require those organisations to either migrate to alternative systems, as Greater Manchester has already done, or wait for a replacement platform to be procured. No public timetable for a replacement has been set out.
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