Official UK procurement notice
National Advocacy Information, Advice and Safety Net Service
Authority: Department for Education (Central government)
The Department for Education is seeking market feedback on the re-procurement of a national Advocacy Helpline and Safety Net Service for looked after children, care leavers, children in need, and other eligible children and young people in England. The service will provide clear, child-friendly information on advocacy rights; a national multi-channel information, advice and signposting service; and a Safety Net advocacy function where local advocacy provision is unavailable, unreasonably delayed, inaccessible or denied.
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Department for Education is seeking market feedback on the re-procurement of a national Advocacy Helpline and Safety Net Service for looked after children, care leavers, children in need, and other eligible children and young people in England.
The service will provide clear, child-friendly information on advocacy rights; a national multi-channel information, advice and signposting service; and a Safety Net advocacy function where local advocacy provision is unavailable, unreasonably delayed, inaccessible or denied.
In addition, the Department is exploring the inclusion of a pilot to test an opt-out advocacy model for children living in residential care. Under this model, advocacy would be routinely offered to children unless they choose to decline participation. The Department intends to use this market engagement to gather feedback on the feasibility, affordability and practical delivery considerations associated with incorporating such a pilot within the future contract. The scope, scale and final design of the pilot are therefore subject to further development and market testing.
The provider will also be expected to:
- maintain accurate information on advocacy provision across England and support children and young people to access appropriate local services;
- provide national intelligence to the Department on advocacy demand, access, waiting times, barriers to provision and emerging themes;
- maintain appropriate digital, telephony, case management and reporting systems;
- comply with safeguarding, information governance, cyber security and data protection requirements;
- ensure appropriate workforce capacity, skills, training and quality assurance arrangements;
- support performance monitoring, evaluation and continuous improvement; and
- ensure continuity of service throughout the contract period.
The Department is particularly interested in market views on the delivery model, affordability, workforce implications and implementation requirements associated with integrating an opt-out advocacy pilot within the wider Advocacy Helpline and Safety Net Service.
CPV: Administrative social services · Guidance and counselling services · Social services · Welfare services for children and young people
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Department for Education buys Social work services (CPV 8531), and who usually turns up
Department for Education’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Social work services (CPV 8531) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
i
How often small and medium firms win.
Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.
The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in the region where that award was delivered.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards have an award date within 51 days of the bid deadline.
i
How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
The market share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.
How many bids did past lots attract?
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How many bids past lots received.
Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.
Past bids do not predict this tender.
1 bid10% / 27%
2–336% / 35%
4–624% / 23%
7+29% / 16%
How did awards compare with estimates?
i
Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Below estimate37% / 25%
Within ±2%51% / 67%
Above estimate11% / 8%
Assess each lot i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list
Lot #1CPV 85Published estimate£540k
This lot lists more than one class in CPV 85. The comparison uses that group.
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How many bids this lot may attract.
The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.
Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 2,277 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid24%
2–334%
4–624%
7+18%
i
Where the award price may land.
The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.
No comparable awards for this lot yet.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Who has supplied this buyer on similar work? i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
Who could compete for this lot? i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender and Contracts Finder), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly. Contracts Finder appears in live search, the Retender Radar, contract pages, organisation counts and the buyer's decision figure; the other analytical figures are built from Find a Tender notices.
- Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
- Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
- Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Light touch regime
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 23 Sept 2026, 07:16 BST
- Last source update
- 24 Sept 2026, 09:58 BST
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-090419- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-077808Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
23 Sept 2026 → 1 Apr 2027 · 5 dates- Planning notice published46 days ago23 Sept 2026, 07:16 BST
- Latest notice published45 days ago24 Sept 2026, 09:58 BST
- Market engagement39 days ago29 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
The Department for Education (DfE) is undertaking preliminary market engagement to gather views on the proposed scope, delivery model, digital requirements and commercial approach for the re-procurement of the National Advocacy Information, Advice and Safety Net Service.
Supplier experience and capability
To support this engagement, the Department is interested in feedback from suppliers with experience in:
- delivering national or regional advocacy, information or advice services;
- supporting children in care, care leavers and vulnerable children and young people;
- providing independent advocacy in statutory or regulated contexts;
- operating helplines, digital triage services or online advice platforms; and
- delivering safeguarding, children’s social care or -related services.
These capability areas are indicative only and do not constitute formal selection or evaluation criteria.
Feedback received through this engagement will help inform the Department's requirements and proposed specification, ensuring that any future service reflects the needs of children and young people, the sector and potential providers.
Supplier engagement event
The Department will hold an initial supplier engagement event on Tuesday 29th September 2026 10am-11am.
The deadline for registering for this event is 12pm on Monday 28th September 2026 via Jaggaer.
The event can be accessed through the "View Opportunities" section of the Jaggaer e-Tendering portal.
Select the opportunity notice titled "National Advocacy Information, Advice and Safety Net Service - SSQ" to access the registration page.
The event is open to all potential suppliers, regardless of any previous engagement with the Department.
The session will provide an overview of the proposed National Advocacy Information, Advice and Safety Net Service and outline the subsequent market engagement activities.
Market Engagement Questionnaire
Following the engagement event, suppliers will be invited to complete a questionnaire. The questionnaire is intended solely to inform the Department's understanding of the market and the development of any future procurement strategy. Participation is voluntary and responses will not be evaluated as part of any future procurement process.
The questionnaire will be made available via the Jaggaer e-Tendering portal following the supplier engagement event.
Details of any deadlines will be communicated through the Jaggaer messaging system and during the supplier engagement event.
All correspondence relating to this market engagement exercise will be issued through Jaggaer.
Important notice
This notice:
- does not signify the commencement of a competitive procurement process;
- does not constitute any commitment by the Department for Education to procure services; and
- does not create any obligation on the Department.
The DfE is keen to maximise opportunities for participation by Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprises (VCSEs). Consortia, partnerships and collaborative bids from all organisation types will be welcomed and considered.
Any funding estimates referred to during this market engagement are indicative only and may be subject to change. The Department makes no commitment at this stage regarding the final scope, value or funding envelope of any future procurement activity.
- Tender notice expected12 days ago26 Oct 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Today8 Nov 2026
- Contract startsin 143 days1 Apr 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
3 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 23 Sept 2026- Preliminary market engagement notice published23 Sept 2026, 07:16 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published23 Sept 2026, 14:37 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published24 Sept 2026, 09:58 BSTUK2
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (3)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender