Planning

Fostering Recruitment Digital Solutions Preliminary Market Engagement Notice

DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Planning

12 Feb 2026 at 15:35

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Department for Education (DfE) in the United Kingdom is currently in the planning stage for procuring digital solutions aimed at supporting fostering recruitment. This opportunity falls under the services category, specifically IT services and welfare services for children and young people. The process is located in London, with the DfE's contact based at Sanctuary Buildings, 20 Great Smith Street, London, SW1P3BT. The preliminary market engagement intends to gather insights on digital solutions that can enhance the recruitment of foster carers, providing a streamlined and supportive application process. A virtual event will be held on 24 February from 13:00 to 14:00 via MS Teams, with follow-up 1:1 meetings available until 13 March 2026. Businesses interested in participating in the engagement should contact fostering.programme@education.gov.uk for further involvement details.

This tender presents significant opportunities for businesses specialising in digital solutions tailored to social care. Organisations experienced in creating accessible, user-focused digital applications that conform to government standards are particularly well-suited for this engagement. It offers small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community, and social enterprises (VCSEs) the chance to influence the design and delivery approach of fostering recruitment digital solutions, potentially preparing for a national rollout. With the decreasing number of foster carers in England, innovative solutions that improve the application journey can thrive, encouraging new collaborations and enhancing data sharing capabilities across local authorities and relevant agencies.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Fostering Recruitment Digital Solutions Preliminary Market Engagement Notice

Notice Description

As announced in Renewing Fostering: homes for 10,000 more children, the Department for Education (DfE) is exploring how digital solutions can support the successful onboarding of more prospective foster carers. This could include providing a simple and easy journey through the application process, minimising drop-off points caused by delays in communication about progress and outcomes, and enabling richer data on fostering recruitment through to approvals to support decision-making at a local and national level. The number of foster carers in England has been steadily decreasing since 2021, which is reducing the number of loving homes available for children and young people who need foster care. This is a preliminary market engagement notice to share DfE's interest in engaging with the market to help inform the design and potential delivery approach of digital solutions for fostering recruitment. We also want to understand market interest, capability and capacity for delivery and understand new or innovative ideas for supporting fostering recruitment with digital solutions that improve the end-to-end applicant journey, thereby reducing dropout at critical points of the recruitment process. To deliver on the ambitious plan, we are seeking a digital solution that can: * allow prospective foster carers to make an application and manage it throughout the fostering application process, from initial enquiry to approval (this may include making contact with their fostering service, booking appointments and monitoring the progress of their application online) * help fostering hubs and local authorities to manage prospective foster carers through the application process through real-time insights and by engaging relevant agencies to support the onboarding process * providing appropriate and timely information to enable applicants, hubs and local authorities to make informed decisions * provide a simple customer journey that is interoperable with other key national and local fostering guidance, including potential new elements such as a national front door * enabling the gathering of rich and consistent data on the hub fostering recruitment process and pipeline, supporting effective data sharing between DfE, hubs, local authorities and other relevant agencies, and helping to better target interventions and efforts where they are most needed. * a scalable and secure solution that is interoperable with existing platforms and infrastructure, enabling improved data sharing and portability of applications across fostering services, while also strengthening the overall digital and data capability across the system * align with government data, digital and technology standards to provide a seamless digital customer experience to the applicant (including the Government Digital Service (GDS) Standards and The Technology Code of Practice), legal compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 and The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018) We are seeking to understand market capacity to deliver a private beta in late 2026 that will test and inform the potential for national scaling. Specifically, we are interested in hearing from suppliers with experience of: * providing digital solutions to support better children's social care practice (may include fostering) * designing accessible, inclusive and user-focused digital solutions that meet government standards * delivering solutions using a test-and-learn approach with a limited number of users and organisations to prepare for, and enable, a national rollout * working with local government and interoperability of complex digital systems * developing WCAG 2.2AA accessibility compliant digital solutions Feedback from the market will help shape the department's proposed scope to ensure any offer meets sector needs. This notice is not being used as a call for competition. All information in this notice will be subject to further agreement and internal approval, including the estimated funding amount. DfE reserves the right not to progress to a formal procurement process. . Relevant Links: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69826905015e2ba11991bbef/Renewing_Fostering_-_homes_for_10_000_more_children_-_February_2026_accessible.pdf https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/service-standard https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-technology-code-of-practice https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/ https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2018/952/contents

Planning Information

The purpose of this preliminary market engagement notice is to inform the market that DfE is considering procuring a digital solution that supports fostering recruitment and to consult on current thinking to help inform our approach. It is not being used as a call for competition. The preliminary market engagement is intended to: • help DfE gauge the market’s interest, capability and capacity for delivering a digital solution that supports recruitment of more foster carers by enabling a simpler and supportive journey • share further information about DfE’s ambition and invite the market to share early thoughts to inform the shaping of our requirements, timelines, commercial approach and any other aspects relating to this opportunity Market engagement will consist of a virtual event via MS Teams. This session will give an opportunity to discuss, clarify and highlight what aspects of the competition may be most attractive as well as anything that might be a barrier to bidding. The virtual MS Teams event will be held on 24 February at 13:00 – 14:00pm. We will outline key questions and areas of interest during the session, and interested suppliers will be invited to complete a survey and schedule a 1:1 meeting to discuss their thoughts and the suitability of existing platforms in further detail. To arrange an invite to the team session, please contact fostering.PROGRAMME@education.gov.uk. Details about how to sign-up for a 1:1 session will be shared during the event on 24th February.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06530c
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/013055-2026
Current Stage
Planning
All Stages
Planning

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Not Specified
Procurement Method Details
Not specified
Tender Suitability
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

85 - Health and social work services

CPV Codes

72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

85311300 - Welfare services for children and young people

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
12 Feb 20261 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
13 Mar 20263 weeks to go
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
30 Jun 2026 - 31 Mar 2028 1-2 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Planning
Lots Status
Planning
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION
Contact Name
Not specified
Contact Email
fostering.programme@education.gov.uk
Contact Phone
Not specified

Buyer Location

Locality
LONDON
Postcode
SW1P 3BT
Post Town
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
Not specified
Local Authority
Westminster
Electoral Ward
St James's
Westminster Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

Download

The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts. 

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