---
title: "Childcare Grant Payment Services"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-06e9f5"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06e9f5"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06e9f5.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06e9f5.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "Student Loans Company"
published: "2026-08-21"
---

# Childcare Grant Payment Services

Buyer: Student Loans Company  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-06e9f5

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## Summary

The Student Loans Company procured a childcare grant payment service: a third-party service to process childcare grant payments directly to childcare providers. This is a financial transaction processing and clearing-house service, classified under CPV 66172000, rather than childcare provision itself. The requirement covers one lot and is delivered for the Student Loans Company, with the procurement activity located in Darlington. The contracted service operates across the United Kingdom. Businesses relevant to this requirement are payment service providers, transaction processors, clearing-house operators and firms able to manage payments between a public body and childcare providers. The work combines payment processing with the operational handling needed to route grant payments accurately to their intended recipients.

The procurement has been awarded and the contract is active. Wider Plan Limited was selected as the supplier. The contract was signed on 1 June 2018, began on 14 June 2018 and runs to 31 March 2028. Its value is £8,500,000. The original tender described a 1,800-day contract period. The award used a tender procedure under the 2014 EU public procurement legal framework; the published information does not state a procurement method or evaluation weighting. The contract has been extended to 31 March 2028, with additional value added. The stated reason is that major Student Loans Company projects may change the service specification, making it difficult to define replacement requirements coherently at this point.

This award demonstrates established public-sector demand for a managed payment service supporting childcare grants, with UK-wide delivery and a substantial multi-year operating requirement. A credible future competitor would need dependable financial transaction processing and clearing-house capability, together with systems that can make accurate payments directly to a distributed network of childcare providers. It would also need the operational capacity to handle public funds, maintain reliable payment records, support reconciliation and manage service continuity for the Student Loans Company. Experience delivering regulated or high-volume payment services for public bodies would strengthen a supplier’s position, as would the ability to adapt the service when programme requirements or related government projects change.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

Provision of 3rd Party Services to process the payment of Childcare Grants directly to Childcare providers

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/080091-2026 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Not Specified |
| Procurement method details | Not specified |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | SME |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 21 Aug 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 1 Jun 2018 |
| Contract period | 14 Jun 2018 - 31 Mar 2028 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £8,500,000 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Not specified |
| Lots status | Not specified |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | Student Loans Company |
| Locality | DARLINGTON |
| Postcode area | Darlington |
| Postcode | DL1 1RW |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLC North East (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLC3 Tees Valley |
| ITL 3 | TLC33 Darlington |
| Local authority | Darlington |
| Electoral ward | Red Hall & Lingfield |
| Westminster constituency | Darlington |
| Delivery location | TLC13 Darlington |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | Wider Plan Limited |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 66 - Financial and insurance services

### Codes

- 66172000 - Financial transaction processing and clearing-house services

## Release History

- 21 Aug 2026 at 16:49 - AwardUpdate - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/080091-2026

## Notice URLs

- http://www.slc.co.uk
- https://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:308804-2018:TEXT:EN:HTML
- https://www.slc.co.uk
- https://www.widerplan.com

## 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-06e9f5. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06e9f5.json.