---
title: "Fostering Recruitment and Retention Programme Delivery Partner 25-26"
ocid: "ocds-b5fd17-51ca1d63-8da4-4588-8cd2-fbecd8c633df"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-51ca1d63-8da4-4588-8cd2-fbecd8c633df"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-51ca1d63-8da4-4588-8cd2-fbecd8c633df.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-51ca1d63-8da4-4588-8cd2-fbecd8c633df.json"
source: "Contracts Finder"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION"
published: "2025-04-22"
---

# Fostering Recruitment and Retention Programme Delivery Partner 25-26

Buyer: DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-b5fd17-51ca1d63-8da4-4588-8cd2-fbecd8c633df

[View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-51ca1d63-8da4-4588-8cd2-fbecd8c633df)  
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## Summary

The Department for Education has completed the procurement process for the "Fostering Recruitment and Retention Programme Delivery Partner 25-26" contract. This tender falls under the business and management consultancy services category and covers a wide geographic area, including British Overseas Territories, the Channel Islands, Europe, the Isle of Man, the rest of the world, and the United Kingdom. Using a selective procurement method, the contract was awarded through a call-off from the RM6187 Management Consultancy Framework Three (MCF3) Lot 7, with a total contract value of £374,520. The procurement stage has reached the "Award" phase as of 22nd April 2025, with the contract period starting from 9th April 2025 and ending on 31st March 2026.

This tender presents significant opportunities for businesses, particularly SMEs and voluntary, community, and social enterprises (VCSEs), given its suitability criteria. The programme is designed to provide strategic oversight and support to local authorities (LAs) in foster care recruitment, enhancing regional collaboration and sharing of insights. Businesses with expertise in management consultancy, particularly those with experience in working with public sector organisations and policy development, are well-suited to compete for such contracts in the future. Successful engagement in this programme can lead to further opportunities in the public sector, strengthening a company's portfolio and fostering growth.

## Notice

We required a delivery partner to work alongside us and the sector to provide challenge, independent oversight and support to LAs in relation to foster care recruitment support hubs, to ensure that this programme results in real, lasting change. The delivery partner would provide oversight of the project and leverage regional working at a senior strategic level to establish regional working patterns. The purpose of a delivery partner is to provide appropriate levels of both challenge and support to LAs to ensure new ways of working are embedded, as well as gathering and sharing insights between groups of LAs on approaches, successes and challenges to bring shared learning to the regions taking part in this programme nationally and inform DfE policy development. We ran this competition using RM6187 Management Consultancy Framework Three (MCF3) Lot 7. This means that only those who were on the Commercial Agreement Lot 7 could submit a bid in response to the published contract notice.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Contracts Finder |
| Latest notice | https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/16559985-dd8d-46d0-8d05-a18a45fec572 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Framework |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Selective |
| Procurement method details | Call-off from a framework agreement |
| Tender suitability | SME, VCSE |
| Awardee scale | SME |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 22 Apr 2025 |
| Submission deadline | 7 Mar 2025 |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 8 Apr 2025 |
| Contract period | 8 Apr 2025 - 31 Mar 2026 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £374,520 |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £374,520 |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Not specified |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION |
| Locality | DARLINGTON |
| Post town | Darlington |
| Postcode | DL1 5QE |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLC North East (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLC3 Tees Valley |
| ITL 3 | TLC33 Darlington |
| Local authority | Darlington |
| Electoral ward | Park East |
| Westminster constituency | Darlington |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | MUTUAL VENTURES |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

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

### Codes

- 79410000 - Business and management consultancy services

## Release History

- 22 Apr 2025 at 12:33 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/16559985-dd8d-46d0-8d05-a18a45fec572

## Documents

- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/16559985-dd8d-46d0-8d05-a18a45fec572
  22nd April 2025 - Awarded contract notice on Contracts Finder
- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/10babaea-4a10-46a6-9261-cb795475b68d
  n/a

## 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-b5fd17-51ca1d63-8da4-4588-8cd2-fbecd8c633df. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-51ca1d63-8da4-4588-8cd2-fbecd8c633df.json.