Early Years Stronger Practice Hubs Delivery Partner

The purpose of this Prior Information Notice (PIN) is to notify the market of a potential upcoming procurement activity to initiate market consultation; it is not a call for tenders. The PIN is intended to: 1. Raise awareness with the market of a potential future procurement process, and to enable time for organisations to begin early discussions with the Department for Education (the department) and each other as to how they may be able to deliver any future contract. 2. Inform the market that the department will be undertaking market consultation activity, to gather information about the supply market; to explore potential delivery models and associated benefits of those models; and to inform its understanding of the risks and issues relevant to managing transition to, and mobilisation of, any new service arrangements. This will consist of an online event which will take place on 5th February 2025 at 10am. This PIN, and online event, relate to potential procurement activity for to the Department for Education's Stronger Practice Hubs programme. Stronger Practice Hubs support early years providers and educators to adopt evidence-based approaches to enhance the quality of practice and improve children's outcomes. They have built networks to encourage peer to peer support and use these to disseminate resources and opportunities for professional development. There are currently 18 Hubs in total distributed across England (2 Hubs per government office region). Hubs are an appointed partnership of up to 5 settings and/or childminders, with a designated lead group-based setting carrying overall responsibility for establishing and developing the Hub. They were originally established as part of the Department for Education's early years education recovery programme. The programme adopts a system leadership approach, encouraging sector-led support to develop a shared language and understanding of evidence-based practice. Stronger Practice Hubs predominantly target settings and children most in need, with a focus on supporting children from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. The supplier will need to: - Understand the evidence base of 'what works' in supporting child outcomes in the Early Years and the Government's Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) reforms - Facilitate collaboration between Hubs to develop a consistent national support offer - Oversee and quality assure the work of each Stronger Practice Hub - Actively promote the Stronger Practice Hubs programme with external partners and ensure there is alignment between Hub and local authority priorities - Collect and report management information that evidences the impact of the Hubs programme