RFP QuestBeta
Awarded · ResultStage · contract

Luton Council

AT1487 Independent Foster Agencies Provision

HealthcareCPV 85000000
Value£118.0m
Awarded14 Apr 2026
Published23 Jun 2026
RegionLondon
Outcome — awarded

This is a contract result notice, not an open opportunity. Details from the official award data.

Contract value in context
£118.0mtotal contract value
median £380k
this tender£0£127.4m

This is a large award for Health & Social Care — above three-quarters of comparable contracts. Based on 32,734 valued Health & Social Care tenders in our corpus.

The brief

Luton, Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Councils are working collaboratively to re-open and expand the Approved Provider List (APL) for Independent Fostering Agencies to serve all authorities.

The APL will support the authorities to deliver suitable foster care placements at the right time, in the right location and with the right support, to improve the overall outcomes for children looked after.

We are seeking independent Foster Care provision must be in in Beds/Herts and surrounding areas eg Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire.

Providers must be Ofsted registered as Good or Outstanding and act in accordance with the guidance contained in Working Together to Safeguard Children (2018) and any subsequent guidance.

An Approved Provider List (APL) was commissioned in 2025 and this is a re-opening of the APL to allow further providers to join.

This is being procured under the Light Touch Regime under Public Contract Regulations 2015 as the original APL was procured before the Procurement Act 2023 came into force.

Requirements

What the notice asks for

01

The APL will support the authorities

The APL will support the authorities to deliver suitable foster care placements at the right time, in the right location and with the right support, to improve the overall outcomes for children looked after.

02

Providers must be Ofsted registered as Good

Providers must be Ofsted registered as Good or Outstanding and act in accordance with the guidance contained in Working Together to Safeguard Children (2018) and any subsequent guidance.

Sentences from the notice that state an obligation, surfaced automatically and shown in the order they appear. Not an exhaustive list — always confirm against the tender documents.

The gates

What this notice demands of you

1 named in obligation language, 0 mentioned. Each one is quoted from the notice.

Ofsted registrationsays mustRegulator registrations
Providers must be Ofsted registered as Good or Outstanding and act in accordance with the guidance contained in Working Together to Safeguard Children (2018) and any subsequent guidance.

Matched against the notice text, so this is a floor — the tender pack will demand things the notice never mentions. “Says must” means the quoted sentence itself used obligation language; anything ambiguous is left as a mention.

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Source & provenance
OCID
f53f44d5-fe61-455f-a4aa-e1e2303f5b49
Stage
contract · Contract
Source
Contracts Finder
Buyer ref
LUTON001-DN807169-60063234
View the original notice on Contracts Finder

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source data © Crown copyright.

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