---
title: "National Data Dashboard for Children's Social Care Placements"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-06dab9"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06dab9"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06dab9.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06dab9.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION"
published: "2026-08-04"
---

# National Data Dashboard for Children's Social Care Placements

Buyer: DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-06dab9

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## Summary

The procurement process for a "National Data Dashboard for Children's Social Care Placements" has been spearheaded by the Department for Education, a central government public authority located in London, United Kingdom. This tender falls under the industry category of IT services and welfare services for children and young people. The process has reached the award stage, with a contract scheduled to run from 17th August 2026 to 31st March 2029. Social Finance Limited has been appointed as the supplier through a direct award procurement method. This decision is supported by the rationale that Social Finance holds exclusive intellectual property rights integral to the project, which involves enhancing and scaling an existing platform operating in approximately 62 local authorities.

This tender presents a significant opportunity for businesses involved in IT services, data analytics, and child welfare sectors. Companies with expertise in software development, data management, and the provision of IT support could be well-positioned to collaborate on various aspects of this expansive project. The national scaling of the dashboard and its integration with other assessment tools provide an excellent prospect for businesses to showcase their capabilities in delivering secure, scalable, and impactful data solutions tailored to public sector needs. Such projects not only foster growth for participating businesses by enhancing their public sector portfolios but also contribute to the broader societal goal of improving social care services for children.

## Notice

A three-year contract to extend, enhance, and scale nationally an existing children's social care placements data dashboard, which is already operational and used by approximately 62 local authorities. Delivery will build upon the existing Social Finance platform infrastructure and will align with the rollout of Regional Care Cooperatives. The maximum contract value is PS2,865,473 inclusive of irrecoverable VAT. The contract will fund the following services: - Operation and maintenance of the existing data platform as a secure, scalable software-as-a-service. - Phased onboarding of all local authorities in England onto the platform. - Development and delivery of expanded data collection capabilities. - Development of analytical dashboards for local authorities, Regional Care Cooperatives, DfE and Ofsted. - Provision of APIs and data access to support DfE and Ofsted use. - Preparatory work for integration with complementary needs assessment and benchmarking tools (e.g. CANS, BERRI, CareCubed), and for future forecasting and scenario modelling capabilities. - Work in connection with the transfer of intellectual property rights to DfE and long-term platform sustainability.

### Procurement Information

The contract will be awarded directly under section 41 of the Procurement Act 2023, relying on the justification at Schedule 5, paragraph 5 (single supplier - exclusive rights). The Supplier holds the intellectual property rights required to supply the services under this contract. These rights include copyright in the software codebase and technical documentation, database rights in the data architecture and configuration, and proprietary rights in the analytical models and algorithms developed for the Dashboard. This contract is for the enhancement and national scaling of an existing, live platform that is already in operational use by c. 62 local authorities. The services cannot reasonably be separated from the existing platform: they require direct access to and modification of the codebase, data models, and system configuration that Supplier owns. Procuring a replacement platform from an alternative supplier would deliver different services (a new-build platform) that would require: (i) a full competitive procurement; (ii) platform design, build, testing and implementation; (iii) re-establishment of local authority data integrations; (iv) disruption to the local authorities currently using the existing system; and (v) delay of at least 18 months to the national rollout required to meet policy objectives. In the Authority's assessment, this would not constitute a reasonable alternative to the enhancement of the existing platform, since it entails a different approach with different outcomes, extended timescales and greater risk.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/073518-2026 |
| Notice type | UK5 - Transparency Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Direct |
| Procurement method details | Direct award |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | SME |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 4 Aug 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 4 Aug 2026 |
| Contract period | 16 Aug 2026 - 31 Mar 2029 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £2,387,894 |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Complete |
| Awards status | Pending |
| 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 |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | SOCIAL FINANCE |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
- 85 - Health and social work services

### Codes

- 72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
- 85311300 - Welfare services for children and young people

## Release History

- 4 Aug 2026 at 09:35 - Award - UK5 - Transparency Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/073518-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/073518-2026
  4th August 2026 - Transparency 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-06dab9. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06dab9.json.