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PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITY

Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund Preliminary Market Engagement Notice

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

Tender information last checkedLast checked 30 Sept 2026, 09:06.

Opportunity overview

The Adoption Support Fund (ASF) was launched in 2015 and expanded to include Special Guardianship in 2016, becoming the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) in 2023.   The ASGSF aims to support adoptive and special guardianship order children to receive the therapeutic services they have been assessed as needing. This is so they can recover from their early childhood experiences, ultimately to improve their short- and long-term outcomes. We are seeking a Delivery Partner (DP) to liaise with Local Authorities (LAs) and Regional Adoption Agencies (RAAs) to deliver the ASGSF service. All applications come through a portal and the DP will have to process and approve these applications as per the terms and conditions of the contract and the current scope and eligibility for the ASGSF. The DP is responsible for: Fund Management, Management Reporting and Data Requests, Managing Digital Solutions, and payment of grant funding for approved applications to LA/RAAs. Grant funding The DP will administer grant funding on behalf of the DfE. After applications are approved, service providers will invoice the relevant LA or RAA once the service starts. The LA/RAA will in turn invoice the DP. To cover the costs, a profiled amount will be transferred to the DP in advance based on a pre-agreed grant funding agreement between the DfE and DP. Please note, all information in this notice will be subject to ministerial agreement and internal approval.

Classification

  • CPV80000000 — Education and training 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-0599dc
Status
planning
Above Threshold
Yes
Main Procurement Category
services

Legal basis

Id
2023/54
Scheme
UKPGA

Communication

Future Notice Date
31 Oct 2025, 23:59

Lots and requirements

Entry 1
Id
1
Status
planning
Has Renewal
Yes

Suitability

Sme
Yes
Vcse
Yes

Contract period

Ends
31 Mar 2027, 23:59
Starts
1 Apr 2026, 00:00
Max Extent Date
31 Mar 2029, 23:59

Items and delivery

Item 1
Id
1
Related Lot
1

Additional Classifications

Entry 1
Id
80000000
Scheme
CPV
Description
Education and training services

Planning and budget

Documents

Entry 1
Id
056398-2025
Format
text/html
Notice Type
UK2
Description
Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
Document Type
marketEngagementNotice
Published
15 Sept 2025, 08:24

Milestones

Entry 1
Id
engagement
Type
engagement
Status
scheduled
Due
23 Sept 2025, 23:59
Description
The purpose of this preliminary market engagement notice is to inform the market of the progress towards the procurement for a delivery partner for the continuation of the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund. It is not being used as a call for competition. Market engagement will consist of a virtual event via MS Teams. We aim for the MS Teams event to take place 23 September 2025 from 3pm to 4:15pm. If you are interested, please contact emilie.wilkinson@education.gov.uk to arrange an invitation to the event. We will circulate any Q&As raised during the event with all suppliers who registered an interest in attending in due course. Please note, at this time it is our intention to award this contract via the DPS RM6322 Fund Administration and Disbursement Services (FAADS).

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

Notice and amendment history

1 published notice version reviewed by ProcuraAxis.

1 VERSION
  1. ocds-h6vhtk-0599dc-2025-09-15T08:24:49+01:00Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender ·