--- title: "Early Years Stronger Practice Hubs Delivery Partner" ocid: "ocds-b5fd17-23d89551-e0bc-4914-8e8f-1430e6c54d5a" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-23d89551-e0bc-4914-8e8f-1430e6c54d5a" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-23d89551-e0bc-4914-8e8f-1430e6c54d5a.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-23d89551-e0bc-4914-8e8f-1430e6c54d5a.json" source: "Contracts Finder" current_stage: "Planning" buyer: "DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION" published: "2025-01-24" --- # Early Years Stronger Practice Hubs Delivery Partner Buyer: DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION Current stage: Planning OCID: ocds-b5fd17-23d89551-e0bc-4914-8e8f-1430e6c54d5a [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-23d89551-e0bc-4914-8e8f-1430e6c54d5a) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-23d89551-e0bc-4914-8e8f-1430e6c54d5a.json) ## Summary The Department for Education (DfE) is currently in the planning stage for a procurement process entitled "Early Years Stronger Practice Hubs Delivery Partner". This process aims to enhance early years education across England by supporting providers and educators to adopt evidence-based approaches. The procurement falls under the category of education and training services and has a broad geographical scope, including the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, Channel Islands, Europe, Isle of Man, and the rest of the world. An online market engagement event is scheduled for 5th February 2025, and interested businesses must register by 5th February 2025. This Prior Information Notice (PIN) is meant to inform the market and initiate early discussions regarding potential future procurement activities. This tender offers significant opportunities for businesses specialising in early years education, particularly those experienced in evidence-based practice and the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) reforms. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community, and social enterprises (VCSEs) are particularly encouraged to participate. Companies that can facilitate collaboration between educational hubs, oversee quality assurance, and align with local authority priorities are well-suited for this opportunity. By engaging with this procurement process, businesses can contribute to a national support offer, promote early years programmes, and report on the programme's impact, thereby aiding in the socio-economic development of disadvantaged children. ## Notice The purpose of this Prior Information Notice (PIN) is to notify the market of a potential upcoming procurement activity to initiate market consultation; it is not a call for tenders. The PIN is intended to: 1. Raise awareness with the market of a potential future procurement process, and to enable time for organisations to begin early discussions with the Department for Education (the department) and each other as to how they may be able to deliver any future contract. 2. Inform the market that the department will be undertaking market consultation activity, to gather information about the supply market; to explore potential delivery models and associated benefits of those models; and to inform its understanding of the risks and issues relevant to managing transition to, and mobilisation of, any new service arrangements. This will consist of an online event which will take place on 5th February 2025 at 10am. This PIN, and online event, relate to potential procurement activity for to the Department for Education's Stronger Practice Hubs programme. Stronger Practice Hubs support early years providers and educators to adopt evidence-based approaches to enhance the quality of practice and improve children's outcomes. They have built networks to encourage peer to peer support and use these to disseminate resources and opportunities for professional development. There are currently 18 Hubs in total distributed across England (2 Hubs per government office region). Hubs are an appointed partnership of up to 5 settings and/or childminders, with a designated lead group-based setting carrying overall responsibility for establishing and developing the Hub. They were originally established as part of the Department for Education's early years education recovery programme. The programme adopts a system leadership approach, encouraging sector-led support to develop a shared language and understanding of evidence-based practice. Stronger Practice Hubs predominantly target settings and children most in need, with a focus on supporting children from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. The supplier will need to: - Understand the evidence base of 'what works' in supporting child outcomes in the Early Years and the Government's Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) reforms - Facilitate collaboration between Hubs to develop a consistent national support offer - Oversee and quality assure the work of each Stronger Practice Hub - Actively promote the Stronger Practice Hubs programme with external partners and ensure there is alignment between Hub and local authority priorities - Collect and report management information that evidences the impact of the Hubs programme Additional information: Potential providers that are interested in attending the market engagement event must register their interest via the Microsoft teams link below: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/903148e5-0501-4ef5-95cb-9014a2c14eb5@fad277c9-c60a-4da1-b5f3-b3b8b34a82f9 Attendance will be limited to two attendees per organisation, when requesting an invite please provide the email address of the one/two attendees from your organisation that will attend the online event. More Information: This notice is for information only and is intended to be indicative. Therefore, all information presented here is subject to change. Accordingly, DfE will not be liable for any cost, expenditure, work, or effort incurred by any party acting on the basis of this PIN. All future information will be issued to potential providers via the DfE e-Tendering Portal. Providers can access this system at: https://education.app.jaggaer.com ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Contracts Finder | | Latest notice | https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/48bbf61e-c4b0-483a-942b-6f49a870d166 | | Notice type | Market Engagement Notice | | Procurement type | Standard | | Procurement category | Not specified | | Procurement method | Not Specified | | Procurement method details | Not specified | | Tender suitability | SME, VCSE | | Awardee scale | Not specified | | All stages | Planning | ## Dates | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication date | 24 Jan 2025 | | Submission deadline | Not specified | | Future notice date | 5 Feb 2025 | | Award date | Not specified | | Contract period | Not specified | | Recurrence | Not specified | ## Values | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender value | Not specified | | Lots value | Not specified | | Awards value | Not specified | | Contracts value | Not specified | ## Status | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender status | Planning | | Lots status | Not specified | | Awards status | Not specified | | Contracts status | Not specified | ## Buyer | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Main buyer | DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION | | Locality | MANCHESTER | | Post town | Manchester | | Postcode | M1 2WD | | Country | England | | ITL 1 | TLD North West (England) | | ITL 2 | TLD3 Greater Manchester | | ITL 3 | TLD33 Manchester | | Local authority | Manchester | | Electoral ward | Piccadilly | | Westminster constituency | Manchester Central | | Delivery location | Not specified | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 80 - Education and training services ### Codes - 80000000 - Education and training services ## Release History - 24 Jan 2025 at 13:47 - Planning - Market Engagement Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/48bbf61e-c4b0-483a-942b-6f49a870d166 - 24 Jan 2025 at 13:44 - Planning - Market Engagement Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/10df35b2-ff9b-4f5c-bf7c-aad7b4597e8f - 24 Jan 2025 at 13:43 - Planning - Market Engagement Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/1efdb6a2-8b64-4ce5-bbd2-feb9e8d454cc ## Documents - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/48bbf61e-c4b0-483a-942b-6f49a870d166 24th January 2025 - Early engagement notice on Contracts Finder - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/10df35b2-ff9b-4f5c-bf7c-aad7b4597e8f 24th January 2025 - Early engagement notice on Contracts Finder - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/1efdb6a2-8b64-4ce5-bbd2-feb9e8d454cc 24th January 2025 - Early engagement notice on Contracts Finder - https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/903148e5-0501-4ef5-95cb-9014a2c14eb5@fad277c9-c60a-4da1-b5f3-b3b8b34a82f9 Market Engagement Event Registration Link ## Notice URLs - https://education.app.jaggaer.com ## Provenance This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-23d89551-e0bc-4914-8e8f-1430e6c54d5a. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-23d89551-e0bc-4914-8e8f-1430e6c54d5a.json.