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Delivering the Best Start in Life - Implementation Partner

Department for Education

This public procurement record has 8 releases in its history.

Award

02 Oct 2026 at 15:40

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
TenderUpdate

09 Jul 2026 at 09:46

UK4 - Tender Notice
Tender

08 Jul 2026 at 15:07

UK4 - Tender Notice
PlanningUpdate

27 Apr 2026 at 11:04

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
PlanningUpdate

06 Mar 2026 at 15:11

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
PlanningUpdate

26 Jan 2026 at 09:38

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
PlanningUpdate

23 Jan 2026 at 14:36

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Planning

23 Jan 2026 at 14:27

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Department for Education has awarded a contract for an implementation partner to support its Delivering the Best Start in Life programme. The work centres on helping local authorities lead system reform and ambitious local action; deliver consistent, high-quality Best Start in Life and Best Start Family Hub services; build sustainable capability, learning and innovation across the sector; and provide flexible support as needs change. This is education and training support delivered across England. The partner’s role is to work with local authorities, rather than provide services in a single location. The requirement combines system-level change with practical support for local delivery and capability-building across the sector.

The procurement is complete and Mott MacDonald Limited has been selected. The award was made on 1 October 2026, for £2,194,988 excluding VAT (£2,633,985.60 including VAT). The contract is due to run from 9 November 2026 to 9 March 2029, with options for two further 12-month extensions if the service continues. This was a single-lot open procedure. The tender closed on 11 August 2026, with questions accepted until 5 August 2026; the contract award decision was due by 17 September 2026. Evaluation used technical questions with allocated weightings and a price-per-quality-point measure. Eight bids were received, with five at the final stage, all from SMEs. The award includes a subcontract to Coram Hempsall Consultancies Limited.

For suppliers considering similar work for the Department for Education, this award shows demand for an implementation partner able to combine local authority support with national system reform. Credible competitors would need to demonstrate expertise in improving early-years and family hub services, supporting ambitious local action, and building lasting capability, learning and innovation across a varied local authority landscape. The work also calls for flexible delivery that can respond to changes in priorities and policy. The selected supplier was a large consultancy and brought in specialist subcontracting support, indicating that both substantial delivery capacity and complementary expertise can be relevant. SMEs were represented among the final-stage bidders, and the requirement was identified as suitable for SMEs and voluntary, community and social enterprises; collaboration or consortium delivery may therefore be a route to assembling the breadth of skills required.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Delivering the Best Start in Life - Implementation Partner

Notice Description

The Department for Education (DfE) is issuing this Contract Award Notice following the completion of tender for an Implementation Partner for Delivering the Best Start in Life. The successful Implementation Partner will play a pivotal role in supporting Local Authorities to, but not limited to: 1. Lead System Reform and Drive Ambitious Local Action 2. Deliver Consistent, High Quality BSiL and Best Start Family Hub Services 3. Build Sustainable Capability, Learning and Innovation Across the Sector 4. Provide Flexible, Responsive Support Aligned with a Changing Landscape

Lot Information

Lot 1

Renewal: There is potential to extend the contract by up to two additional 12-month periods (1+1 years), subject to agreement and the terms of the contract. Any decision to extend the contract will be subject to affordability, government priorities, and policies.

Planning Information

The Department will be hosting an online event which will take place on Monday 16th March 2026. If you are interested in joining this event, please use the link below to register via Jaggaer (see View Opportunities) https://education.app.jaggaer.com/web/login.html Please Note: • This notice is for market engagement and exploratory purposes and is not a call for competition. • The Department for Education reserves the right not to enter any formal processes or agreements. • Accordingly, the Department for Education will not be liable for any bid cost, expenditure, work, or effort incurred by a provider in acting based on this notice. We intend to share the questions and answers from the event with all potential suppliers. The opportunity is suitable for but not limited to SME's and VCSEs Consideration will also be given to consortia and collaborative bids from all forms of organisations.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-060d7c
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/093476-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Planning, Tender, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Open
Procurement Method Details
Open procedure
Tender Suitability
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

80 - Education and training services

CPV Codes

80000000 - Education and training services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£2,743,750 £1M-£10M
Lots Value
£2,743,750 £1M-£10M
Awards Value
£2,194,988 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
2 Oct 20263 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
11 Aug 2026Expired
Future Notice Date
1 May 2026Expired
Award Date
1 Oct 20263 weeks ago
Contract Period
9 Nov 2026 - 9 Mar 2029 2-3 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Department for Education
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
LONDON
Postcode
SW1P 3BT
Postcode Area
South West London
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI3 Inner London - West
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI35 Westminster and City of London
Delivery Location
TLC North East (England), TLD North West (England), TLE Yorkshire and The Humber, TLF East Midlands (England), TLG West Midlands (England), TLH East (England), TLI London, TLJ South East (England), TLK South West (England)
Local Authority
Westminster
Electoral Ward
St James's
Westminster Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

Mott MacDonald

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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