---
title: "UK2 - Preliminary market engagement notice"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-068a78"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-068a78"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-068a78.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-068a78.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Planning"
buyer: "DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION"
published: "2026-04-24"
---

# UK2 - Preliminary market engagement notice

Buyer: DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION  
Current stage: Planning  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-068a78

[View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-068a78)  
[Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-068a78.json)

## Summary

The Department for Education is currently in the planning stage of a procurement process aimed at implementing an action plan for a Centre of Excellence for Children's Social Care Data and Digital. This initiative follows Phase 1, where a consortium led by Social Finance developed recommendations to enhance local authorities' data and digital maturity. The upcoming market engagement event, scheduled for 20 May 2026, invites suppliers to present their interest and feedback. The procurement is classified under social work services, with a substantial estimated gross value of £6,500,000. The project is set to commence on 1 October 2026 and targets organisations within the UK, particularly those with experience in children's services data and digital management.

This tender presents significant growth opportunities, especially for Small to Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprises (VCSEs), as well as organisations capable of forming consortia or collaborative bids. Suppliers need to demonstrate a deep understanding of local authorities' children's services and possess a robust network within the sector. Strong technical expertise in data storage, movement, processing, and user experience for social work is essential. The procurement process, designed with inclusivity in mind, seeks providers with the skills to support sustainable post-delivery positions for local authorities and strengthen sector resources and technology markets. This opportunity is ideal for businesses specialising in social services, digital transformation, data management, and fostering collaborative sector interactions.

## Notice

In 2025, the department appointed Social Finance, the lead organisation of a consortium which included Data to Insight, Coram, ICT Revolutions and the Local Government Association to scope and design a Centre of Excellence for Children's Social Care (CSC) Data and Digital; this was known as Phase 1. The Centre will help local authorities (LAs) improve their data and digital maturity with respect to CSC services. The consortium engaged with LAs and wider sector stakeholders to identify opportunities, challenges and risks related to CSC data and digital work. It produced recommendations and a delivery plan to support delivery and scale-up in Phase 2. We are seeking a supplier (or consortium) who can deliver the action/delivery plan (from Phase 1) for the Centre of Excellence for CSC Data and Digital (Phase 2). They will need to demonstrate the following: * Deep understanding of LA CSC delivery, and the data and digital functions that support it. * An established, active and wide-reaching network into LA children's services (CSC specifically), built through ongoing participation in sector networks, particularly data and/or digital. * Strong technical knowledge of current and future systems capabilities for: o children's services data storage, movement, and processing, and o user experience for social work/practitioner recording and case management. * Ability to provide specialist data and digital skills support to specific projects within LAs, with a clear "exit" approach--i.e. leaving the LA in a more sustainable position post-delivery. * Have the capacity and capability to mobilise and deliver the action plan from in Phase 1. This will include maintaining and improving shared sector resources, strengthening technology markets, enabling safe and effective information sharing, developing the workforce and organisational capability, connecting partners across the sector, and supporting delivery of proven change. We will conduct early market engagement to present our requirements for the proposed procurement. This session will allow us to understand the interest in the market for delivery. After the event, suppliers will be invited to complete a survey to provide feedback that will support our proposals for this work. *Please be aware that registration is for the Market Engagement Event only. This event does not signify the commencement of any procurement process and does not constitute any commitment by the Department for Education. This is NOT an invitation to tender for a contract opportunity and any suppliers invited to the event will not have a privileged position in relation to any future contract opportunity. Any subsequent procurement(s) that DfE conducts will be based on the fair and objective outcome of a procurement process.* The DfE is keen to maximise opportunities to participate in procurement for Small to Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprises (VCSEs). Consideration will also be given to consortia and collaborative bids from all forms of organisations.

### Planning Information

This will consist of an online event held on Microsoft Teams which will take place on 20 May 2026 between 10:00 – 11:00. If you are interested in attending this event, please contact the mailbox - CSC.DATASTRATEGY@EDUCATION.GOV.UK and an online invitation will be issued in due course. We intend to share the questions and answers from the events with all potential suppliers. 
Organisations interested in attending must register for an account on Jaggaer before expressing an interest in this opportunity. Access to the system is available via the Department’s e tendering portal – Jaggaer - https://education.app.jaggaer.com/web/login.html. Once registered, please navigate to the “Current Opportunities” section and search for:
• Project_ 10396
or
• SSQ_ 763
Once you have located the opportunity, please confirm your interest within Jaggaer.
The next step is to reserve a place at the event using the Jaggaer message facility. When doing so, please include:
• Confirmation that you wish to join the event
• Your organisation’s name
• The name(s) of attendee(s)
• Email address(es) of attendee(s)
• Each attendee’s role within your organisation
A Teams calendar invitation with joining instructions will then be issued via Jaggaer.
Please ensure the invitation is shared with all nominated attendees.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/037461-2026 |
| 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 | 24 Apr 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | 1 Jul 2026 |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 30 Sep 2026 - 31 Mar 2028 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £5,400,000 |
| 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

- 85 - Health and social work services

### Codes

- 85300000 - Social work and related services

## Release History

- 24 Apr 2026 at 09:56 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/037461-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/037461-2026
  24th April 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- https://education.app.jaggaer.com/web/login.html
- 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-068a78. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-068a78.json.