--- title: "Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund Preliminary Market Engagement Notice" ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-0599dc" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-0599dc" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0599dc.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0599dc.json" source: "Find A Tender Service" current_stage: "Planning" buyer: "DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION" published: "2025-09-15" --- # Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund Preliminary Market Engagement Notice Buyer: DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION Current stage: Planning OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-0599dc [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-0599dc) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0599dc.json) ## Summary The Department for Education is in the planning stage of a procurement process seeking a Delivery Partner for the continuation of the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund. This initiative, aimed at supporting adoptive and special guardianship order children, is categorised under education and training services and is set to take place in London, United Kingdom. The upcoming milestone is a virtual market engagement event scheduled for 23 September 2025, from 3 pm to 4:15 pm. Businesses interested in participating should contact the provided email for an invitation. The procurement strategy is expected to follow the DPS RM6322 Fund Administration and Disbursement Services (FAADS), with a potential start date for the contract on 1 April 2026 and a possible end date by 31 March 2029. This procurement presents significant growth opportunities for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community, and social enterprises (VCSEs) specialising in fund management, digital solutions, and service delivery within the educational sector. The chosen Delivery Partner will be responsible for liaising with Local Authorities and Regional Adoption Agencies to manage the fund, process applications, and oversee grant funding distribution. This opportunity is ideal for organisations capable of managing complex fund administration projects and engaging with diverse stakeholders to enhance the support provided to children in adoptive and special guardianship settings. ## Notice The Adoption Support Fund (ASF) was launched in 2015 and expanded to include Special Guardianship in 2016, becoming the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) in 2023. The ASGSF aims to support adoptive and special guardianship order children to receive the therapeutic services they have been assessed as needing. This is so they can recover from their early childhood experiences, ultimately to improve their short- and long-term outcomes. We are seeking a Delivery Partner (DP) to liaise with Local Authorities (LAs) and Regional Adoption Agencies (RAAs) to deliver the ASGSF service. All applications come through a portal and the DP will have to process and approve these applications as per the terms and conditions of the contract and the current scope and eligibility for the ASGSF. The DP is responsible for: Fund Management, Management Reporting and Data Requests, Managing Digital Solutions, and payment of grant funding for approved applications to LA/RAAs. Grant funding The DP will administer grant funding on behalf of the DfE. After applications are approved, service providers will invoice the relevant LA or RAA once the service starts. The LA/RAA will in turn invoice the DP. To cover the costs, a profiled amount will be transferred to the DP in advance based on a pre-agreed grant funding agreement between the DfE and DP. Please note, all information in this notice will be subject to ministerial agreement and internal approval. ### Planning Information The purpose of this preliminary market engagement notice is to inform the market of the progress towards the procurement for a delivery partner for the continuation of the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund. It is not being used as a call for competition. Market engagement will consist of a virtual event via MS Teams. We aim for the MS Teams event to take place 23 September 2025 from 3pm to 4:15pm. If you are interested, please contact emilie.wilkinson@education.gov.uk to arrange an invitation to the event. We will circulate any Q&As raised during the event with all suppliers who registered an interest in attending in due course. Please note, at this time it is our intention to award this contract via the DPS RM6322 Fund Administration and Disbursement Services (FAADS). ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Find A Tender Service | | Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/056398-2025 | | Notice type | UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice | | Procurement type | Standard | | Procurement category | Services | | 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 | 15 Sep 2025 | | Submission deadline | Not specified | | Future notice date | 31 Oct 2025 | | Award date | Not specified | | Contract period | 31 Mar 2026 - 31 Mar 2027 | | 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 | Planning | | Awards status | Not specified | | Contracts status | Not specified | ## 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 | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 80 - Education and training services ### Codes - 80000000 - Education and training services ## Release History - 15 Sep 2025 at 07:24 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/056398-2025 ## Documents - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/056398-2025 15th September 2025 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender ## Notice URLs - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents ## 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-0599dc. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0599dc.json.