Wraparound School Age Childcare and Early Years Entitlements (Delivery Partner) - Early Engagement

The Department is currently investigating options to procure additional delivery support to local authorities and potentially schools, early years settings and private providers for the establishment and expansion of wraparound and delivery of the expanded childcare entitlements. We are interested in hearing from suppliers with the skills and expertise to work proactively and reactively with LAs to support the delivery of this childcare agenda, which support both early years and school age children. In pursuance of this, the Department is seeking information from suppliers in order to help inform the options available to the Department in regard to how the programme are delivered. We will be undertaking an online event on 27 July 2023. This event is anticipated to last approximately 1 hour from 4 to 5pm. The market engagement event is an opportunity to shape the core responsibilities and delivery offer of the Department’s future programme ahead of possible future procurement. During the engagement session we will be asking questions which we list in Jaggaer. We would also like a follow up response after the session to help inform our approach to any potential procurement. Purpose From September 2025, all eligible working parents of children aged nine months and over will be entitled to 30 hours free childcare per week up until their child starts school. In addition, the government also announced that there will be £289m funding to support local authorities to work with schools and other providers to increase the supply of wraparound childcare, so that all parents of school-age children can access childcare from 8am – 6pm if they need it. Provision will be available from September 2024. This is a hugely exciting programme that will remove barriers preventing parents from participating in the workforce or working longer hours, and provide more children with access to high quality early education. Additional information: Please note that this PIN is not a call to competition and the department is not bound to enter into any procurement activity because of it. All procurement activity is subject to Ministerial priorities, funding and any or all procurement activity is subject to change at the Department’s absolute discretion. Procurement, if taken forward, is expected to open later this year.