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National Data Dashboard for Children's Social Care Placements

Department for Education

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

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04 Aug 2026 at 10:35

UK5 - Transparency Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Department for Education is procuring services to extend, enhance and scale nationally an existing children’s social care placements data dashboard. The platform is already operational and used by approximately 62 local authorities. The scope covers secure software-as-a-service operation and maintenance; onboarding all local authorities in England; expanded data collection; analytical dashboards for local authorities, Regional Care Cooperatives, the Department for Education and Ofsted; APIs and data access for the Department for Education and Ofsted; preparation for integration with needs assessment and benchmarking tools; future forecasting and scenario modelling; and work to transfer intellectual property rights to the Department for Education and support long-term platform sustainability. Delivery is based on the existing Social Finance platform infrastructure and supports Regional Care Cooperatives.

The procurement is complete and the contract was awarded on 4 August 2026 through a direct award under section 41 of the Procurement Act 2023, using the single-supplier exclusive-rights justification in Schedule 5, paragraph 5. Social Finance Limited was selected for the services. The maximum and awarded value is £2,865,473 including irrecoverable VAT, with a net value of £2,387,894 excluding VAT. The contract period runs from 17 August 2026 to 31 March 2029, with signature scheduled for 17 August 2026. There is one completed lot. The direct award rationale is that Social Finance owns the software copyright, database rights, technical documentation, analytical models and algorithms required to modify and scale the live platform, making a replacement platform a different and significantly riskier approach.

This opportunity demonstrates established demand for a national children’s social care data platform combining secure SaaS operations, local-authority data integration, data collection, analytics and public-sector APIs. Suppliers seeking comparable work would need substantial capability in secure, scalable cloud software, live-platform maintenance, onboarding and integration across local authorities, and the design of dashboards for operational and policy users. Relevant experience would include children’s social care data, analytical models, benchmarking, forecasting and scenario modelling, alongside the ability to work with the Department for Education, Ofsted and Regional Care Cooperatives. Control of, or authorised access to, the existing software codebase, data architecture, configuration, technical documentation and analytical intellectual property was central to this award, so incumbent-platform ownership or equivalent rights would be crucial in any future requirement.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

National Data Dashboard for Children's Social Care Placements

Notice Description

A three-year contract to extend, enhance, and scale nationally an existing children's social care placements data dashboard, which is already operational and used by approximately 62 local authorities. Delivery will build upon the existing Social Finance platform infrastructure and will align with the rollout of Regional Care Cooperatives. The maximum contract value is PS2,865,473 inclusive of irrecoverable VAT. The contract will fund the following services: - Operation and maintenance of the existing data platform as a secure, scalable software-as-a-service. - Phased onboarding of all local authorities in England onto the platform. - Development and delivery of expanded data collection capabilities. - Development of analytical dashboards for local authorities, Regional Care Cooperatives, DfE and Ofsted. - Provision of APIs and data access to support DfE and Ofsted use. - Preparatory work for integration with complementary needs assessment and benchmarking tools (e.g. CANS, BERRI, CareCubed), and for future forecasting and scenario modelling capabilities. - Work in connection with the transfer of intellectual property rights to DfE and long-term platform sustainability.

Procurement Information

The contract will be awarded directly under section 41 of the Procurement Act 2023, relying on the justification at Schedule 5, paragraph 5 (single supplier - exclusive rights). The Supplier holds the intellectual property rights required to supply the services under this contract. These rights include copyright in the software codebase and technical documentation, database rights in the data architecture and configuration, and proprietary rights in the analytical models and algorithms developed for the Dashboard. This contract is for the enhancement and national scaling of an existing, live platform that is already in operational use by c. 62 local authorities. The services cannot reasonably be separated from the existing platform: they require direct access to and modification of the codebase, data models, and system configuration that Supplier owns. Procuring a replacement platform from an alternative supplier would deliver different services (a new-build platform) that would require: (i) a full competitive procurement; (ii) platform design, build, testing and implementation; (iii) re-establishment of local authority data integrations; (iv) disruption to the local authorities currently using the existing system; and (v) delay of at least 18 months to the national rollout required to meet policy objectives. In the Authority's assessment, this would not constitute a reasonable alternative to the enhancement of the existing platform, since it entails a different approach with different outcomes, extended timescales and greater risk.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06dab9
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/073518-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK5 - Transparency Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Direct award
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
SME

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
£2,387,894 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
4 Aug 20262 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
17 Aug 2026 - 31 Mar 2029 2-3 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Pending
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
Not specified
Local Authority
Westminster
Electoral Ward
St James's
Westminster Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

Social Finance

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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