Home / Opportunities / Opportunity
PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITY

Designated Family Judge Trailblazer

Department for Education · Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender

Tender information last checkedLast checked 29 Sept 2026, 22:59.

Opportunity overview

The family justice (FJ) system is one of the most complex and cross-system policy areas in Children’s Services. DfE holds responsibility for public law, covering all vulnerable children in England who require local authority (LA) intervention. Unacceptable delays in the family courts have been a long-standing issue for over 10 years. We want to create sustainable cross-system changes that bring down family court delays. We want to build on the work of our 24/25 Trailblazer pilot. This pilot involved five DFJ trailblazer areas with significant delays taking part in deep dives to determine the most pressing drivers of delay in Family Courts in their local context and implement tailored solutions. Expected services will include: Roll out Guided Learning • Expand Guided Learning: Offer the Guided Learning (GL) process to the remaining 23 DFJ areas and enhance the offer for the first 15 areas. • Enhanced Offer: Prescribe solutions based on Trailblazers' existing solutions for all 38 areas. • Toolkit Development: Provide a toolkit for local solution development, supported by Trailblazer insights. Support ongoing learning for DFJ areas, the DfE, and the wider sector • Expand PLGs: Broaden Communities of Practice for all DFJ areas to build networks for improvement. • Pilot Evaluation: Continue supporting the evaluation of the pilot programme. • Disseminate Learning: Share ongoing learning through events, webinars, podcasts, newsletters, etc. Develop and embed learning from Trailblazers • Collate Insights: Analyse learning from the Trailblazers pilot, highlighting impactful initiatives and lessons learned. • Build Evidence Base: Expand the Guided Learning evidence base with additional DFJ areas. • Early Adopters' Toolkit: Develop a toolkit for implementing Trailblazer solutions. Further develop system accountability work 1. Engage Stakeholders: Work with key stakeholders to understand challenges and solutions. 2. Address NAO Recommendations: Review and implement relevant recommendations from the National Audit Office. 3. Develop Family Justice Strategy: Conduct research and gather data to inform policy and practice. 4. Practical Recommendations: Develop actionable recommendations and policy proposals to drive improvement. The purpose of this Notice is to initiate market consultation and is not being used as a call for competition. The Notice is intended to: Raise awareness with the market of a potential future procurement process and to enable time for organisations to begin early discussions with the Department and each other as to how they may be able to deliver any future contract. The family justice (FJ) system is one of the most complex and cross-system policy areas in Children’s Services. DfE holds responsibility for public law, covering all vulnerable children in England who require local authority (LA) intervention. Unacceptable delays in the family courts have been a long-standing issue for over 10 years. We want to create sustainable cross-system changes that bring down family court delays. We want to build on the work of our 24/25 Trailblazer pilot. This pilot involved five DFJ trailblazer areas with significant delays taking part in deep dives to determine the most pressing drivers of delay in Family Courts in their local context and implement tailored solutions. Expected services will include: Roll out Guided Learning • Expand Guided Learning: Offer the Guided Learning (GL) process to the remaining 23 DFJ areas and enhance the offer for the first 15 areas. • Enhanced Offer: Prescribe solutions based on Trailblazers' existing solutions for all 38 areas. • Toolkit Development: Provide a toolkit for local solution development, supported by Trailblazer insights. Support ongoing learning for DFJ areas, the DfE, and the wider sector • Expand PLGs: Broaden Communities of Practice for all DFJ areas to build networks for improvement. • Pilot Evaluation: Continue supporting the evaluation of the pilot programme. • Disseminate Learning: Share ongoing learning through events, webinars, podcasts, newsletters, etc. Develop and embed learning from Trailblazers • Collate Insights: Analyse learning from the Trailblazers pilot, highlighting impactful initiatives and lessons learned. • Build Evidence Base: Expand the Guided Learning evidence base with additional DFJ areas. • Early Adopters' Toolkit: Develop a toolkit for implementing Trailblazer solutions. Further develop system accountability work 1. Engage Stakeholders: Work with key stakeholders to understand challenges and solutions. 2. Address NAO Recommendations: Review and implement relevant recommendations from the National Audit Office. 3. Develop Family Justice Strategy: Conduct research and gather data to inform policy and practice. 4. Practical Recommendations: Develop actionable recommendations and policy proposals to drive improvement.

Classification

  • CPV79411000 — General management consultancy services

Lots

  • Lot 1Value not stated

Documents and notices

Published notice details

Additional information from the published procurement release. Fields appear only when supplied by the source; check the original notice and tender documents before acting.

Scope, procedure and submissions

Id
ocds-h6vhtk-04f809
Status
planning
Above Threshold
Yes
Main Procurement Category
services

Legal basis

Id
2023/54
Scheme
UKPGA

Communication

Future Notice Date
28 Apr 2025, 23:59

Lots and requirements

Entry 1
Id
1
Status
planning

Suitability

Sme
Yes
Vcse
Yes

Contract period

Ends
31 Mar 2026, 23:59
Starts
7 Jul 2025, 00:00

Items and delivery

Item 1
Id
1
Related Lot
1

Delivery locations

Entry 1
Region
UK
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom

Additional Classifications

Entry 1
Id
79411000
Scheme
CPV
Description
General management consultancy services

Planning and budget

Documents

Entry 1
Id
010958-2025
Format
text/html
Notice Type
UK2
Description
Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
Document Type
marketEngagementNotice
Published
24 Mar 2025, 15:38

Milestones

Entry 1
Id
engagement
Type
engagement
Status
scheduled
Due
31 Mar 2025, 23:59
Description
The Department will be undertaking market consultation activity during the coming weeks, to gather information about the supply market. This will consist of a virtual event via MS Teams. We aim for this event to take place Monday, 31 March, 10:00-11:00. If you are interested, please contact Varick.HARRISON@education.gov.uk to arrange an invitation to the event. We intend to share the outcomes from the main session with all potential suppliers following the conclusion of the consultation period.

Buyer, suppliers and contacts

Organisation 1
Id
GB-PPON-PDZG-3487-DPVD
Name
Department for Education

Roles

buyer

Address

Region
UKI32
Country
GB
Locality
London
Postal Code
SW1P3BT
Country Name
United Kingdom
Street Address
Sanctuary Buildings, 20 Great Smith Street

Details

Classifications

Entry 1
Id
publicAuthorityCentralGovernment
Scheme
UK_CA_TYPE
Description
Public authority - central government

Identifier

Id
PDZG-3487-DPVD
Scheme
GB-PPON

Contact

Recorded locations

  • Buyer location · London · UKI32 · SW1P3BT · United Kingdom
  • Delivery location · UK · United Kingdom

Notice and amendment history

1 published notice version reviewed by ProcuraAxis.

1 VERSION
  1. ocds-h6vhtk-04f809-2025-03-24T15:38:12ZPreliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender ·