---
title: "con_21206 CR: Delivery Partner of Families First for Children Pathfinder Programme Extension 01/10/2025 - 31/03/2026"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-03ebb9"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-03ebb9"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-03ebb9.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-03ebb9.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION"
published: "2026-03-30"
---

# con_21206 CR: Delivery Partner of Families First for Children Pathfinder Programme Extension 01/10/2025 - 31/03/2026

Buyer: DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-03ebb9

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## Summary

The procurement process is for the Delivery Partner of Families First for Children Pathfinder Programme, whose contract has been extended to run from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026. Managed by the Department for Education, located in London, UK, this service-oriented contract falls under the design and execution of research and development industry category. The extension, compliant with the legal basis of Directive 2014/24/EU, brings the new total contract value to £2,449,944.18 including VAT. The procurement is presently in the Tender Update stage, with important dates including a recent update on 30 March 2026 which confirmed the extension.

This tender provides ample opportunities for businesses specialising in research and development services, particularly those with experience in children's social care and programme management. Companies that can collaborate effectively with public sector entities could find this partnership beneficial in enhancing their influence and reputation. The procurement method used is a limited one, meaning there is no prior publication of a call for competition, an ideal setup for businesses with established relationships within the sector or those looking to strengthen their service portfolio in providing innovative solutions for public sector initiatives focused on children and family support systems.

## Notice

Compliant extension for FY2026/27 to contract con_21206 CR: Delivery Partner of Families First for Children Pathfinder Programme. To enable a continuation of support for local authorities delivering reforms through the FFC Pathfinder programme, and to support transition to national roll out with a focus on sharing Pathfinder learning nationally.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

This is a notice for the Award of Contract: Delivery Partner of Families First for Children Pathfinder Programme. The Independent Care Review and National Panel review made a number of ambitious recommendations to transform support and protection in children's social care (CSC). In response to these recommendations DfE has published its implementation strategy, which sets out its proposed reforms in this area of CSC: a. A new category of support - family help - to replace the current framework across voluntary targeted early help services to statutory child in need services. b. Restructuring the workforce so a multidisciplinary team of family help workers can own relationships with families in need under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 (this means that a wider range of professionals can lead, rather than always being qualified social workers, as is the current set up). c. More effective, integrated multi-agency child protection response, including dedicated, highly skilled professionals from local authorities, police and health with responsibility for specific child protection functions. d. Change to organisational culture, involving wider family members and connected people as a central component throughout family help and child protection. This is a pivotal moment for children's social care. Given the scale and complexity of the reform programme, and the importance of robust testing to inform future policy, we are seeking to contract to an external organisation (a 'Delivery Partner') to support pathfinder local areas to implement new ways of delivering services to children and families; to identify the conditions for successful and sustained implementation of reforms across local areas; and to facilitate learning dissemination, from the programme, across relevant sectors. The Delivery Partner will work as part of a virtual team with the DfE pathfinder programme team, the external Evaluation Partner and relevant policy officials - working collaboratively towards a shared vision for a reformed children's social care system.

### Procurement Information

CCS framework MCF3

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/028838-2026 |
| Notice type | Tender Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Limited |
| Procurement method details | Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | SME |
| All stages | Tender, Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 30 Mar 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 16 Jul 2023 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £972,020 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Cancelled |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION |
| Locality | LONDON |
| Post town | South West London |
| Postcode | SW1P 3BT |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLI London |
| ITL 2 | TLI3 Inner London - West |
| ITL 3 | TLI35 Westminster and City of London |
| Local authority | Westminster |
| Electoral ward | St James's |
| Westminster constituency | Cities of London and Westminster |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

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

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 73 - Research and development services and related consultancy services

### Codes

- 73300000 - Design and execution of research and development

## Release History

- 30 Mar 2026 at 07:29 - TenderUpdate - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/028838-2026
- 19 Sep 2025 at 10:52 - TenderUpdate - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/058061-2025
- 10 Apr 2025 at 08:46 - TenderUpdate - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/014166-2025
- 19 Dec 2023 at 16:06 - TenderUpdate - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/037345-2023
- 31 Jul 2023 at 13:35 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/022186-2023

## Notice URLs

- https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education

## 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-h6vhtk-03ebb9. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-03ebb9.json.