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Ofsted tenders

Children's services tenders in the UK

A children's services tender is how a council, a regional group of councils or the NHS chooses independent providers to care for children and young people: children's homes, fostering agencies, supported accommodation for 16 and 17 year olds, short breaks for disabled children and children's health services. In England most of these providers must be registered with Ofsted, not CQC, before they can bid, and most contracts are frameworks you join, with each child's placement matched afterwards.

See children's tendersTender writing from £1,500 + VAT
A foster carer helping a young boy with a craft activity at the kitchen table

Open now · closes 1 Dec 2026

Residential Children's Homes for Torbay

Torbay Council£14.1m

Regulator in England
Ofsted
registers homes, fostering and 16+
Children placed outside their council area
44%
placed outside their own council

Commissioners are not buying beds. They are choosing who a child will live with, so panels score matching, stability and safeguarding before price.

A girl planting seeds in the garden with her carer

Children's services in numbers, Nov 2026

Sources: our tender feed, DfE 2025, Ofsted 2026

in 31 children's services tenders open now or coming up
£658m
children looked after in England, two thirds of them in foster care
81,770
Ofsted registered children's homes, up 20% in a year and 85% privately owned
4,800
spent by councils on children looked after in 2024 to 2025, up 10%
£9bn

Children's services tenders open now and coming up

Updated 10 Nov 2026, refreshed every 30 minutes

Children's homes, fostering, supported accommodation for 16 and 17 year olds and care leavers, short breaks and 0 to 19 health services from councils and the NHS. Many are frameworks that reopen for new providers, so a notice coming up is often your next way in.

open for bids or new providers today
5
pipeline and market engagement notices, and their published value
26 · £590m
children's services awards in the last year in our feed
8

Showing 1 to 9 of 26

Pipeline notice · published 1 Oct 2026

Value

£111m

Forward to Foster

Buyer
Derbyshire County Council
Area
Derbyshire Dales, East Midlands
Service
Fostering
Contract term
1 Sep 2027 to 31 Aug 2032
Show interestMore details

Care leavers over 18 with support needs often move on to supported living. See those notices too.

Supported living tendersAll care tenders

Where children in care live, and who councils buy from

Fewer children are in care than two years ago, but the number of children's homes keeps rising and foster carers keep leaving. That gap is why councils are re-tendering fostering and building regional frameworks.

81,770 children looked after in England

31 March 2025, by placement

  • Foster care54,820 67%
  • Children's homes9,480 12%
  • Supported accommodation7,520 9%
  • Placed for adoption1,660 2%
  • With parents or elsewhere8,290 10%

44% of these children live outside their own council's area and 22% more than 20 miles from home, which is why location and local schools carry marks in most placement tenders.

Ofsted registered providers

31 March 2026, change in a year

  • 4,800children's homes of all types17,500 places, 85% owned privately+20%
  • 1,220supported accommodation providers9,350 premises and 24,700 places+37%
  • 340independent fostering agencies45% of mainstream fostering households+1%
  • 14secure children's homes12 run by councils, 2 by charities0 private

Foster carers are leaving faster than they join

4,430

households joined in 2024 to 2025

4,690

households left in the same year

Mainstream foster carers fell 12% in four years, from 63,890 to 56,345.

Children's home inspections, 2025 to 2026

  • 11% Outstanding
  • 71% Good
  • 13% Requires improvement
  • 5% Inadequate

Sources: DfE, Children looked after in England, year ending 31 March 2025; Ofsted, Main findings: children's social care in England 2026; Ofsted, Fostering in England 2024 to 2025.

Ofsted or CQC: which regulator your tender needs

The first check on any children's services bid is registration for the right service. Children's social care in England is Ofsted, children's health is CQC, and a bid built on the wrong one fails before it is read.

  • Children's home

    Ofsted

    Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the nine Quality Standards

    Registration
    £2,006 for 3 places or fewer, £3,284 for 4 or more, plus £910 for the manager
    Each year
    £5,390, plus £536 a place from 4 to 8 places; £8,267 for 9 or more

  • Independent fostering agency

    Ofsted

    Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011 and the National Minimum Standards

    Registration
    £3,284, plus £910 for the manager
    Each year
    £3,658

  • Supported accommodation, 16 and 17

    Ofsted

    Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023 and four Quality Standards

    Registration
    £4,320 for up to 9 premises, £5,520 for 10 or more, plus £910 for the manager
    Each year
    £3,888 for up to 9 places, £4,320 for 10 or more

  • Health visiting and school nursing

    CQC

    Health and Social Care Act 2008 regulations, bought under the Provider Selection Regime

  • Personal care for disabled children at home

    CQC

    Personal care is a CQC regulated activity, so domiciliary short breaks need CQC

  • Housing support for care leavers 18 to 25

    None

    Not registered unless you also give personal care, which needs CQC

Ofsted fees from 1 April 2026. Multi-building children's homes register for £4,780.

Two support workers checking a young person's placement plan on a laptop

Outside England

  • WalesCare Inspectorate Wales
  • ScotlandCare Inspectorate
  • Northern IrelandRQIA

Each registers children's homes and fostering under its own law, so a bid in Cardiff or Glasgow needs a different registration.

The Ofsted 2 hour rule

It is a childcare rule: childminders and nurseries register only if they care for a child for 2 hours or more a day. It does not apply to children's homes, fostering or supported accommodation, which must register whatever the hours.

Not registered yet? Ofsted registration support

Fifteen children's services tenders: weightings, bids and winners

Every figure is from the buyer's own notice, 2025 and 2026, across children's homes, fostering, supported accommodation, short breaks and 0 to 19 health. The scoring runs from price only to quality only, so read the award criteria before you write a word.Checked by hand on 17 October 2026. Deadlines switch as they pass, and new notices and awards from our live feed replace a row's status, every 30 minutes.

of the marks for quality, from Luton's pass or fail to Redcar and Cleveland
0% to 100%
bids for each of the big contracts in Kirklees, Leeds and Hackney
2 to 3
fostering agencies appointed to the D2N2 framework, so matching decides the work
25
above the bidders' average weekly rate and a Luton bid is excluded
20%

Quality: written answersInterviewIntegration (health)Access and inequalities (health)Price or valueSocial valueValues exclude VAT unless marked. D2N2 shows agencies appointed, not bids. Each name links to the notice on Find a Tender.

What councils pay, and how your price is scored

Children in care take £9bn, more than half of what councils spend on children's services, which is why the 2026 Act includes a profit cap power. Each tender handles price differently, so build yours to the model in front of you.

average weekly price of a children's home place
£3,830
average weekly price of a fostering agency placement
£820
average operating margin of children's home providers
22.6%
margin the government estimates for supported accommodation
35.5%

Three ways price is set in 2026 tenders

  1. 01

    Ranked on the weekly rate

    Luton, supported accommodation

    You quote a weekly rate for the accommodation and core support, and an hourly rate for anything extra. Only the weekly rate is scored, and a rate more than 20% above the average of all bids is excluded.

  2. 02

    A ceiling within a published range

    D2N2, fostering

    The councils publish a price range for each category. You submit your maximum below it, then can offer less when a child is referred. Price still carried 60% of the marks.

  3. 03

    Quality only

    Redcar and Cleveland, supported accommodation

    The lot is scored 100% on quality, so getting onto the list depends entirely on your written answers. Check the pack for how rates are then set for each placement.

Sources: CMA, Children's social care market study, 2022; DfE profit cap impact assessment, 2026; Luton, D2N2 and Redcar and Cleveland notices on Find a Tender.

Children's health tenders and the Provider Selection Regime

Health visiting, school nursing, the 0 to 19 Healthy Child Programme and children's continuing care are bought under the Provider Selection Regime, not the Procurement Act. Councils use it too for public health nursing, and many contracts are renewed without a competition.

Five ways a health contract is awarded

  1. 01

    Direct award A

    Only the current provider can deliver the service.

  2. 02

    Direct award B

    Patients choose freely between any qualified provider.

  3. 03

    Direct award C

    The current provider is doing well and the service is not changing much, so it is renewed.

  4. 04

    Most suitable provider

    The buyer picks the best provider without a competition, then publishes its intention.

  5. 05

    Competitive process

    A full competition, and the only route for a framework.

Every decision is followed by an 8 working day standstill, when other providers can challenge it.

The five key criteria, as Wirral weighted them

0 to 19 Healthy Child Programme, direct award C, 2026

  • Quality and innovation35%
  • Integration, collaboration and sustainability25%
  • Value15%
  • Access, inequalities and choice15%
  • Social value10%

Integration scores how you work with GPs, schools, family hubs and social care. In Wirral it carried more weight than value.

  • Leeds

    £139m

    0 to 19 public health nursing went to competition. Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust won from 3 bids.

  • Kirklees

    £83.5m

    The 0 to 19 Healthy Child Programme drew 2 bids and went to Locala Community Partnerships, a community interest company.

  • Wigan

    £13.9m

    0 to 19 nursing renewed by direct award C, while a separate £1.25m parent support service went to open tender in October 2026.

  • Luton and Bedfordshire

    £1.8m

    A competitive framework is planned for continuing care packages for children with complex health needs.

What the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 changes for bidders

The Act became law on 29 April 2026. Its children's social care sections change who buys placements, how providers are overseen and what commissioners will ask about money. Several parts start on dates set later by regulations.

  • Section 12

    Regional commissioning

    Councils can be directed to assess need, commission placements and recruit foster carers together.

    In your bid: Expect fewer, larger regional frameworks. One application can open the door to many councils.

  • Section 14

    Parent company oversight

    Ofsted can require an improvement plan from a provider's parent company, with a named senior responsible person.

    In your bid: Group governance becomes evidence. Name who is accountable above the registered manager.

  • Section 15

    Ofsted fines

    Ofsted gains the power to fine providers, including those running services without registration.

    In your bid: Registration status and compliance history matter even more at the selection stage.

  • Section 16

    Financial oversight

    Providers that would be difficult to replace come under a financial oversight regime.

    In your bid: Financial standing checks are getting stricter. Have two years of clean accounts ready.

  • Section 17

    A backstop profit cap

    The government can limit profits of children's homes and fostering agencies, after consultation. No level is set.

    In your bid: Commissioners already ask for clearer cost breakdowns. Price openly and justify it.

  • Section 21

    Agency workers

    Regulations can limit how agency staff are used in children's social care.

    In your bid: Show a settled, employed team and how you cover vacancies without agencies.

What commissioners score in a children's services bid

Quality questions follow the standards Ofsted inspects you against. Panels want to read how you care for a particular child, not a policy summary, so every answer needs a real example.

A carer sitting with a group of children around a table as they play with toys and a globe
  1. 01

    Matching and stability

    How you assess a referral, judge the impact on children already living there, and keep a placement going when it gets hard, with a trauma-informed approach your staff are trained in. D2N2 call-offs rank suitability for the child before price.

  2. 02

    Safeguarding that is specific

    Named safeguarding leads, your missing from care protocol, how you spot and respond to exploitation, and how you work with the council, police and schools.

  3. 03

    Location and the local area

    Why your home or flats suit the children you will take, backed by your location risk assessment and, for children's homes, the regulation 46 review.

  4. 04

    Education and health

    School attendance, personal education plans, the virtual school, health assessments and how you get children seen by mental health services.

  5. 05

    A settled, qualified team

    Level 3 for residential care workers and Level 5 for registered managers, safe recruitment, supervision and how you keep staff, because children notice every change.

  6. 06

    Independent oversight

    Regulation 44 visits and regulation 45 reviews for children's homes, or your quality assurance for supported accommodation and fostering, and what you changed because of them.

  7. 07

    Outcomes you can show

    Your Ofsted grades, anonymised case studies, placement endings that were planned, and young people moving on to education, work or their own home.

  8. 08

    A price you can explain

    A weekly rate built from staffing, property and support hours, ready for the closer scrutiny the 2026 Act brings.

The seven stages of a children's services tender

Shown with Hackney's 2026 tender to run two new council-owned children's homes. From notice to signed contract took four months, and only three providers bid for a £15m contract.

  1. 16 February 2026

    Tender notice

    Two council-owned homes for up to 6 children aged 11 to 17, estimated at £17.9m.

  2. Pass or fail

    Conditions

    Active Ofsted registration and at least two years running children's homes.

  3. Before the deadline

    Clarification questions

    Questions on the portal, with answers shared with every bidder.

  4. 19 March 2026

    Submission

    Quality and price, scored 70% and 30%. Three providers bid.

  5. 1 June 2026

    Evaluation and award

    Action for Children won at £15.2m, below the estimate. No bids came from small providers.

  6. 18 June 2026

    Contract

    Signed after standstill, running to 2031 with an option to 2033.

  7. 7

    From mobilisationNow

    Placements

    The council refers children and the provider matches each one to the home.

The lesson: block contracts with an experience bar, like this one, can draw very few bidders. If you meet the bar, your odds are far better than on an open framework where dozens of providers are appointed.

Where to find children's services tenders, and what you need to bid

Notices go on the national services and then run on each council's own portal, so register on both. Our tender feed brings them together and links straight to each notice.

What you need before you bid

  • Ofsted registration for the service

    Children's home, fostering agency or supported accommodation, registered by the deadline the tender sets. Derbyshire expects it by the tender return date.

  • Experience, where a contract asks

    Hackney asked for at least two years running children's homes. Frameworks that reopen are usually easier to join as a newer provider.

  • Two years of accounts

    Luton checks the last two years of accounts on a pass or fail basis, and may look at your parent company.

  • Your statement of purpose and policies

    Up to date, matched to the children you will take, with safeguarding, missing from care and behaviour support policies ready to attach.

  • Your latest Ofsted report

    Many call-offs rank providers by grade and location, so know where you stand and how you are improving.

  • Insurance and a mobilisation plan

    Public and employer's liability at the levels asked, and a plan for staffing a new home or taking over a service.

Not registered yet? Ofsted registration support for children's homes, fostering agencies and supported accommodation, with the policies councils ask for.

Tender success stories

Tenders we have helped care providers win

Peterborough's children's home and community support purchasing system, won across several lots, plus supported living and community contracts in Essex, Milton Keynes and beyond. Each letter is the council's own.

council awards
10
councils
9
tenders won by Living Plus Care
6 of 7

Results from bids we wrote with each provider, as told in their success stories. Each letter opens the council's own notice. Living Plus Care Services shared a registered office with us and, until September 2026, a director, so its results are not an independent endorsement.

All success stories

Children's services and Ofsted tender writing

We write tenders with Ofsted registered providers, from supported accommodation frameworks to block contracts for children's homes and regional fostering frameworks. One fixed fee per tender, agreed before we start.

  1. 01

    Bid or no bid

    We read the pack with you: the lots, the Ofsted and experience conditions, the scoring split and how placements are called off.

  2. 02

    Evidence and figures

    Your Ofsted reports, placement stability, missing episodes, education and move on outcomes, and anonymised case studies gathered early.

  3. 03

    Quality answers

    Matching, safeguarding, location, education and health, workforce and oversight, written to the scoring guide and the Quality Standards.

  4. 04

    Price and social value

    A weekly rate built from staffing, property and support hours that you can explain, plus social value such as work for care leavers.

  5. 05

    Compliance check and upload

    Every form, declaration, policy and attachment checked against the instructions before it goes on the portal.

  6. 06

    Interview and placements

    Interview practice for your registered manager and responsible individual, then help with referrals once you are on the framework.

A bid writer working through a tender response at her desk, with a planning board behind her

Fixed fee

From £1,500

+ VAT per tender, agreed before we start

  • Children's homes, fostering, supported accommodation and short breaks
  • Frameworks, open frameworks, block contracts and 0 to 19 health
  • Not registered yet? Ofsted registration support
Book a consultationMore about our tender writing

Watch before you bid

The registration checks that fail bids before they are read, winning without references, and getting paid once placements start.

The wrong regulator costs you the contract: tender eligibility checks

The checks councils run before reading a word of your bid, starting with registration for the right service.

How new care providers can win council and NHS tenders with no references

Routes into public contracts for providers without a track record, and how to evidence your team's experience.

Council won't pay your care invoice? How to get paid

The 30 day payment rule for public contracts and what to do when a council pays late.

Related guides and tender sectors

Some of the providers we have worked with

Client reviews

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Bidding for a children's services tender?

Send us the tender or tell us which council you want to work with. We will tell you honestly whether you are ready for that framework or lot, and write a bid that answers what the commissioners asked, at a fixed fee.

  • An honest bid or no bid view on the tender and its lots
  • Quality answers written to the scoring guide and Ofsted's standards
  • A weekly price you can explain to commissioners
Book a consultation0333 577 0877
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Children's services tender FAQs

Last reviewed

A children's services tender is how a council, a group of councils or the NHS buys care for children and young people from independent providers. The main ones are children's homes, fostering through independent fostering agencies, supported accommodation for 16 and 17 year olds and care leavers, short breaks for disabled children, and children's health services such as health visiting and school nursing. Most are frameworks or approved lists that you join, with each child's placement called off later.
In everyday English, tender means gentle, kind or a little sore. In business, a tender is a formal written offer to do a job for an agreed price, and a council picks the best offer. So a children's tender is not a type of care: it is the competition a council runs to choose who will look after children in its care, such as a children's home or a fostering agency.
For children's homes, independent fostering agencies and supported accommodation for 16 and 17 year olds in England, yes: providing these services without Ofsted registration is an offence, and tenders make it a condition. Luton's 2026 supported accommodation framework requires registration for its 16 and 17 lots, Hackney's children's homes tender asked for active registration and two years running children's homes, and Derbyshire expects bidders to be registered by the tender return date. Check the conditions before you start writing.
Ofsted registers and inspects children's homes, independent fostering agencies, supported accommodation for looked after 16 and 17 year olds, residential family centres, adoption support agencies and secure children's homes. CQC regulates health care, such as health visiting and school nursing run by NHS trusts, and personal care for disabled children in their own homes. In Wales it is Care Inspectorate Wales, in Scotland the Care Inspectorate and in Northern Ireland RQIA.
From 1 April 2026, Ofsted charges £2,006 to register a children's home with 3 or fewer places, £3,284 for 4 or more places and £4,780 for a multi-building home. An independent fostering agency costs £3,284 and supported accommodation £4,320 for up to 9 premises or £5,520 for 10 or more. Most services also pay £910 to register the manager. Annual fees then run from £5,390 for a small children's home, £3,658 for a fostering agency and £3,888 or £4,320 for supported accommodation.
Usually several months. Ofsted generally decides children's home applications that meet its priority criteria within 6 months, while others join a waiting list with no set timeframe. For supported accommodation and fostering agencies Ofsted says a decision is likely to take several months. As frameworks such as Derbyshire's want registration by the tender return date, start the application well before the tender you are aiming at.
The 2 hour rule is about childcare, not children's social care. A childminder or nursery only has to register with Ofsted as a childcare provider if it looks after at least one child for 2 hours or more a day. It does not apply to children's homes, fostering agencies or supported accommodation, which must register whatever the hours.
Under section 20 of the Children and Families Act 2014, a child or young person has special educational needs if they have a learning difficulty or disability that calls for special educational provision. That means either a significantly greater difficulty in learning than most others of the same age, or a disability that prevents or hinders them from using the facilities generally provided in mainstream schools. Many short breaks and complex needs tenders are for children with SEND, and some run to age 25.
There is no standard split, so read the award criteria first. Luton's 2026 supported accommodation framework scores the weekly price only, with quality pass or fail and rates more than 20% above the bidders' average excluded. Redcar and Cleveland scores its supported accommodation lot on quality alone. The D2N2 fostering framework was 60% price, 35% quality and 5% social value, and Hackney's children's homes tender 70% quality and 30% price. Placements are then usually matched child by child.
The Competition and Markets Authority found an average of £3,830 a week for a children's home place and £820 a week for an independent fostering agency placement in 2020, with average operating profit margins of 22.6% and 19.4%. Prices for children with complex needs are often far higher. Councils in England spent £9bn on children looked after in 2024 to 2025, more than half of their children's services budget.
A tender is a formal bid for a public contract. Under the Procurement Act 2023, in force since 24 February 2025, a council publishes a tender notice and runs either the open procedure, a single stage, or the competitive flexible procedure, which can add stages such as shortlisting, interviews or negotiation. The contract goes to the most advantageous tender against published criteria. Most children's social care is bought under the lighter touch rules for social care, which give councils more freedom over the process.
Health care services are bought under the Provider Selection Regime, in force since 1 January 2024, not the general procurement rules. The buyer can renew with the current provider (direct award A, B or C), choose the most suitable provider without a competition, or run a competitive process. Decisions are judged on five key criteria: quality and innovation, value, integration and collaboration, access and inequalities, and social value, followed by an 8 working day standstill. Councils buying 0 to 19 public health nursing use it too.
Under the Procurement Act 2023 the main routes are the open procedure, the competitive flexible procedure, direct award in limited cases, frameworks and open frameworks, and dynamic markets. Children's placements often use open frameworks or pseudo dynamic purchasing systems that reopen for new providers. Health services add the five Provider Selection Regime routes. Restricted procedure and competitive dialogue are the older 2015 rules you will still see on contracts started before February 2025.
There is no official list, but a children's services tender usually runs: 1, market engagement or a pipeline notice; 2, the tender notice; 3, clarification questions; 4, submission; 5, evaluation; 6, award decision and standstill; 7, contract and mobilisation, with placements called off afterwards. Hackney's 2026 children's homes tender went from tender notice on 16 February to an award decision on 1 June and a contract start on 18 June.
It depends on the number of questions, word limits and lots. Our children's services tender writing starts from £1,500 + VAT per tender, as a fixed fee agreed before we start. Joining a framework with a short quality questionnaire costs less than a large block contract with method statements, an interview and a mobilisation plan. Ofsted registration fees, policies and the time your manager spends on evidence are separate.
A Regional Care Cooperative is a group of councils that plans, commissions and buys placements for children in care together. The pathfinders are Greater Manchester, with 10 councils, and the South East, with 17. In 2026 the government announced five more: Cheshire and Merseyside, the East Midlands, the West Midlands, London and the North East. The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 lets the Secretary of State direct councils to work together this way, so expect larger regional frameworks.
The Act received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026. For children's social care providers it lets councils be directed into regional commissioning, lets Ofsted require improvement plans from parent companies and issue fines, brings in financial oversight of providers that would be difficult to replace, gives a backstop power to cap profits, and allows limits on agency workers. Several parts start on dates set later, so check commencement before relying on them in a bid.
Not yet. Section 17 of the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 gives the government a backstop power to limit the profits of children's homes and fostering agencies, and possibly supported accommodation later. The impact assessment says any cap would follow a consultation, and no level has been set. Commissioners are already asking for clearer cost breakdowns in prices.
Yes. Since 28 October 2023 it has been an offence in England to provide supported accommodation to looked after 16 and 17 year olds without Ofsted registration, and inspections began in September 2024. By March 2026 there were 1,220 registered providers, up 37% in a year, but only 17% had a published full inspection outcome. Tenders for care leavers aged 18 to 25 do not need Ofsted registration.
Yes, but usually through a framework or open framework rather than a block contract. Once registered with Ofsted you can join approved lists that reopen, such as Redcar and Cleveland's supported accommodation lot, reopened in 2026 and marked as suitable for small providers. Block contracts for council-owned homes, like Hackney's, often ask for years of experience. Expect your Ofsted grade, location and matching to decide which children you are offered.
Under the Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015, residential care workers need the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare, or an equivalent, within two years of starting, and registered managers need the Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Residential Childcare within three years of starting to manage a home. Tenders ask how you recruit safely, train, supervise and keep staff, because placement stability depends on a settled team.
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