---
title: "Supporting Stability and Sufficiency of children in care placements"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-0603fc"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-0603fc"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0603fc.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0603fc.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Planning"
buyer: "DERBYSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL"
published: "2026-02-10"
---

# Supporting Stability and Sufficiency of children in care placements

Buyer: DERBYSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL  
Current stage: Planning  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-0603fc

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## Summary

Derbyshire County Council is initiating a procurement process focused on "Supporting Stability and Sufficiency of Children in Care Placements." The procurement, classified under Health and Social Work Services, is currently at the planning stage with an emphasis on market engagement. A provider engagement event is scheduled for 16th March 2026 at Lea Green, Matlock, targeted at OFSTED registered providers within Derbyshire and neighbouring areas. Interested providers must RSVP by 9th March 2026. The procurement process aims to address the needs of over 1,000 children in care within Derbyshire, with the procurement contract slated to commence on 1st February 2027 and conclude on 31st January 2032.

This tender presents a significant opportunity for OFSTED registered providers of foster care, residential care, and supported accommodation to engage with Derbyshire County Council. It provides a platform for businesses focused on delivering high-quality, stable, and local placements. Moreover, the council seeks to foster partnerships that contribute to a child-centred placement market, offering quality and choice, and ensuring statutory duties are met effectively. With a focus on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community, and social enterprises (VCSEs), the procurement invites innovative solutions that can enhance service delivery for the county's children in care, driving business growth in the region's social care sector.

## Notice

Market engagement event Derbyshire County Council has over 1000 children in care. Approximately 50% of these children in care are in placements sourced through external providers, within residential, fostering and supported accommodation. This is an opportunity for OFSTED registered providers to support in the delivery of Good and Outstanding quality, stable and local placements to the Council's Children in Care. The Council is committed to driving a dynamic, outcomes focused, child-centred placement market, which offers good value, quality and choice. The Council also aim to ensure that the right placement is found the first time, on time, every time and to deliver statutory duties. The Council is wanting to develop partnerships that will help the Council's Commissioners and Providers to address areas of sufficiency and establish a clear and strategic sense of direction for future provision within Derbyshire. The Council would welcome responses from foster care providers, residential providers, and supported accommodation providers to work with the Council to find creative solutions for Derbyshire's Children in Care.

### Planning Information

Provider Engagement event
The event will be held on Monday 16th March 2026 10am -12.30pm (commencing at 10.30am).
The event will be held at Lea Green, Main Road, Lea, Matlock, Derbyshire, DE4 5GJ
The event is about Supporting Stability and Sufficiency of children in care placements.
The event is only for providers who are OFSTED registered for Children within Derbyshire (and neighbouring areas).
In order to be eligible to attend the event, OFSTED registrations must either be complete now and the service in place, or for the OFSTED registration to be completed by the tender return date (estimated November 2026) at the latest (as providers without this will not be eligible to apply for the contract).
Please RSVP by 9th March 2026 to ellena.outram@derbyshire.gov.uk

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/011954-2026 |
| 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 | 10 Feb 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | 16 Mar 2026 |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 1 Feb 2027 - 31 Jan 2032 |
| 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 | DERBYSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL |
| Locality | MATLOCK |
| Post town | Derby |
| Postcode | DE4 3AG |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLF East Midlands (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLF1 Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire |
| ITL 3 | TLF13 South and West Derbyshire |
| Local authority | Derbyshire Dales |
| Electoral ward | Matlock West |
| Westminster constituency | Derbyshire Dales |
| Delivery location | TLF East Midlands (England) |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 85 - Health and social work services

### Codes

- 85000000 - Health and social work services

## Release History

- 10 Feb 2026 at 14:27 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/011954-2026
- 12 Jan 2026 at 16:04 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/002391-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/011954-2026
  10th February 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/002391-2026
  12th January 2026 - 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-0603fc. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0603fc.json.