Social Work National Professional Development Offer

The Department for Education (DfE) is inviting applications from suitably qualified suppliers to join a closed framework to design, develop and deliver a national learning and development offer for Child and Family Social Workers in England.

Call Off Contracts will be awarded annually through Call Off exercises that are detailed within the Framework Agreement throughout the Framework Term.

The Social Work National Professional Development Offer Framework is intended to strengthen qualified child and family social workers’ development and support clearer, structured career pathways aligned to the specialist knowledge and skills required to more effectively support children and families. Delivery will be supported through an appropriate digital platform to enable flexible access, consistency of provision and scalability across the workforce.

Suppliers will be responsible for the end-to-end delivery of the service, including programme design, development of learning content, delivery of training, digital hosting, user experience, and the provision of supporting resources and materials.

The framework will operate for the term of 5 years and 11 months.

Without prejudice to any other rights of termination set out in the Framework Agreement, the Department may terminate this Framework Agreement in whole by exercising a break option with effect from 31 August 2029.

The framework agreement will be split into 2 Lots as follows:

Lot 1 - the Early Career Development Programme (ECDP), the Family Help Team Manager Programme (FHTMP), and the Lead Child Protection Practitioner Programme (LCPPP). Each strand focuses on developing practice and management across key roles within the workforce.

Lot 2 - the Leadership Programme (LP) and the Director of Children’s Services Leadership Programme (DCSLP), which is aimed at strengthening leadership capacity at senior levels.

The estimated number of participants per programme will be approximately 2800 a year for ECDP, up to 500 a year for LCPPP, approximately 500 a year across 4 cohorts for FHTMP, up to 130 a year (65 in post + 65 aspirant) for LP and all new and interim DCS and a minimum of 20 aspirants for DCSLP annually, Numbers of participants are subject to demand and will be confirmed at Call Off stage.

A maximum of three suppliers will be appointed to Lot 1 and a maximum of two suppliers for Lot 2.

Suppliers may bid for, and be awarded, multiple lots or bid for a lot independently.

The Department may make Changes to reflect variations in its requirements for the Services, including but not limited to where demand for the Services is greater than anticipated. Such Changes may include: (a) amendments to the volume or scale of the Services [and proportionate increases to the maximum value of this Framework Agreement and/or any Call-Off Contracts]; and (b) the introduction of an additional Lot or Lots into this Framework Agreement during its term, provided that any such Change does not materially alter the overall nature of this Framework Agreement.