Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
Department for Education
Sanctuary Buildings, 20, Great Smith Street
London
SW1P 3BT
Rachael6.DAVIES@education.gov.uk
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UK - United Kingdom
Internet address(es)
Main address
one.3) Communication
Additional information can be obtained from the above-mentioned address
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Ministry or any other national or federal authority
one.5) Main activity
Education
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
The Fosterline Service
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 71356300 - Technical support services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
It is the Department for Educations intention to undertake a procurement exercise to appoint a suitably experienced organisation to deliver The Fosterline Service on behalf of the Department from 1st October 2023.
The Fosterline Service is a free, independent national advice service that offers support for both current and prospective foster carers. It has been in place since 2006, funded by the Department of Education. During that time, the Department also increased the scope of Fosterline from responding to ad hoc enquiries to offering individualised ongoing services for current or prospective foster carers requiring help with ongoing issues or detailed tax and benefits advice. The services aim to support foster families to stay together during times of crisis, reducing placement breakdown, and avoiding costs associated with this. The current service is widely used, with over 108,000 contacts (through the helpline service, 1-2-1s, web-chats, emails, website visits etc )in the year 2021-22.
In order to provide further information on the opportunity a market engagement webinar will be held on 12/1/23 from 10:00am – 11:30am GMT. This will be an online event hosted through Microsoft Teams platform.
To register for the event, you will need to be registered as a supplier on the DfE Jaggaer eTendering portal, available at
https://education.app.jaggaer.com/web/login.html
Once registered the event will be accessible via the ‘View Opportunities’ link on the Homepage. Select the Opportunity Notice for ‘The Fosterline Service Engagement Event’ (SSQ_326) and this will take you directly to the registration page.
The closing date for registering your interest of the market engagement event is 17:00 GMT on the 10/1/23
two.1.5) Estimated total value
Value excluding VAT: £352,016
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.2) Description
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 72253000 - Helpdesk and support services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UK - United Kingdom
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
To run Fosterline, the free service for prospective and current foster carers by providing a telephone helpline, website, social media presence and 1-2-1 support service on a referral basis.
two.3) Estimated date of publication of contract notice
1 March 2022
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes