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RCC and Fostering Hubs Delivery Partner Preliminary Market Engagement Notice

Department for Education

This public procurement record has 5 releases in its history.

Award

11 Aug 2026 at 16:43

UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Award

13 Jul 2026 at 15:51

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Tender

18 May 2026 at 14:34

UK4 - Tender Notice
Planning

08 Apr 2026 at 15:58

UK3 - Planned Procurement Notice
Planning

27 Mar 2026 at 11:28

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Department for Education procured a delivery partner service to establish and support the early operation of five new Regional Care Cooperatives (RCCs), alongside the expanded Fostering Recruitment and Retention Programme. The work covers coaching, facilitation and technical expertise for diagnostics, planning, governance, sufficiency strategies, market shaping, common data model adoption, forecasting and commissioning. It also covers fostering recruitment and retention expertise, performance monitoring, reporting, change management, troubleshooting, stakeholder facilitation, HR support and social worker practice models. The partner will work with approximately 100 participating local authorities and help align Fostering Hubs with RCCs. Delivery spans England, including London, the North East, North West, East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England, South East and South West.

The procurement has been awarded following an accelerated open procedure. Three bids were received, including three from SMEs. Mutual Ventures Limited was awarded the contract on 13 July 2026. The gross awarded value is £3,463,830, with a net value of £2,886,525. The contract was signed on 30 July 2026 and runs from 31 July 2026 to 31 March 2028, with optional two one-year extensions and a maximum end date of 31 March 2030. The original estimated gross value was £4,000,000. Evaluation used a Price per Quality Point approach, weighted 99% technical quality and 1% commercial price. The contract is recorded as active.

This award indicates demand for specialist public-sector transformation and consultancy capability in children’s social care, fostering and local-government commissioning. Strong competitors would need experience supporting complex regional change programmes, building sustainable organisational capability and working across multiple local authorities and stakeholder groups. Relevant expertise includes fostering-carer recruitment, assessment and retention; regional care planning; sufficiency strategies; market shaping; forecasting; commissioning; governance; data and performance reporting; and change management. Credibility would also depend on providing practical coaching, independent challenge, technical assurance and troubleshooting while transferring capability to clients. The buyer’s performance measures emphasise alignment between Fostering Hubs and RCCs, rapid escalation of serious risks, high-quality tools and templates, and demonstrable improvement in RCCs’ ability to operate independently.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

RCC and Fostering Hubs Delivery Partner Preliminary Market Engagement Notice

Notice Description

The Department for Education (DfE) has awarded a contract to a Supplier to support the establishment and early operation of five new Regional Care Cooperatives (RCCs) and to deliver the expanded Fostering Recruitment and Retention Programme. Regional Care Cooperatives Every child deserves safe, high-quality care close to home. Regional care cooperatives (RCCs) will help make this a reality by transforming the approach local areas take to commissioning and providing homes for children in care. Further background on RCCs and the policy intent behind this reform can be found here: Regional care cooperatives policy statement - GOV.UK The Delivery Partner will provide structured coaching, facilitation, and technical expertise to support regions through the RCC staged progression model-Foundation and Development-so that they are prepared to transition into Delivery, as set out in the RCC Design Specification Guidance here Apply to set up a regional care cooperative - GOV.UK This will include support for: * diagnostics, planning and governance * co design and development of sufficiency strategies * market shaping approaches * adoption of the national common data model * establishment of core regional functions for sustainable forecasting and commissioning Further information please see tender documentation. Fostering Recruitment and Retention Programme The Delivery Partner will also support the next phase of the Fostering Recruitment and Retention Programme, delivered under the same contract as the RCC support package. In this expanded phase, Fostering Hubs will progress beyond initial applicant engagement to manage the entire recruitment and approval process, creating a more integrated and end to end model of recruiting, assessing, and supporting foster carers. The programme contributes to the Department's ambition to secure homes for 10,000 more children by 2029. Fostering Hubs guidance and application forms can be found here Fostering Programme: New Hubs Expression of Interest - GOV-UK Find a grant. The Delivery Partner will provide subject matter expertise in fostering recruitment and retention, alongside support to hubs in establishing performance monitoring and reporting mechanisms, delivering change management, and offering troubleshooting support as programme and/or LA level issues emerge. Support may include stakeholder relationship facilitation, HR related assistance, and co production of assessing social worker practice models. For new hubs, the Delivery Partner will provide challenge, independent oversight, and practical support through design and implementation. All support should be designed to build long term capability within hubs. The Delivery Partner will work with approximately 100 participating LAs across new and existing hubs. The successful organisation will be expected to ensure strategic alignment between RCCs and Fostering Hubs, working closely with RCC leadership where established, and supporting areas to integrate hubs into RCCs as the system evolves. The long term vision is for every local authority to be part of an RCC.

Planning Information

A preliminary market engagement session is being conducted on Thursday 2nd April at 1pm. Please email Commissioning.CSC@education.gov.uk. if you would like to register your interest in attending.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06764c
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/076416-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Planning, Tender, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Open
Procurement Method Details
Open procedure
Tender Suitability
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

CPV Codes

79000000 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

79410000 - Business and management consultancy services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£3,333,333 £1M-£10M
Lots Value
£3,333,333 £1M-£10M
Awards Value
£2,886,525 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
£2,886,525 £1M-£10M

Notice Dates

Publication Date
11 Aug 20261 months ago
Submission Deadline
22 Jun 2026Expired
Future Notice Date
8 May 2026Expired
Award Date
13 Jul 20262 months ago
Contract Period
31 Jul 2026 - 31 Mar 2028 1-2 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Active

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), 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

Mutual Ventures Limited

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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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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