Open tenders / Health & social care
Planned procurement · Notice 089177-2026
Expression of Interest (EOI): Soft Block Contract for Independent Fostering
Bristol City Council
- Value
- £3m
- Stage
- Early notice
- Where
- South West
- Lots
- 1
- Suitable for SMEs
- Not stated
- Contract
- 1 Jan 2027 – 31 Dec 2028
In plain English
Bristol City Council is testing the market ahead of awarding a two-year contract (January 2027 to December 2028) with an independent fostering agency to increase the supply of foster carers for Bristol children in care. The arrangement would cover Bristol and surrounding areas (BANES, South Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire and North Somerset), with priority access to the agency's carers living outside Bristol, aiming to avoid children moving into residential care. This is an expression of interest, not yet a bid.
Good fit for: Independent fostering agencies with carers in Bristol and the wider South West
Watch out: You need to be an independent fostering agency with your own pool of approved foster carers across the named areas; Contract value is around £3m over two years, so the council will expect capacity to place a number of children
Written with AI from the official notice. Check the notice before relying on it.
What the buyer says
Expression of Interest (EOI) Bristol City Council wishes to test the level of market interest in providing a service o increase the sufficiency of foster carers for our children in care in Bristol and the surrounding areas (BANES / Bath and North East Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire and North Somerset). Simultaneously this will create an innovative partnership with an independent fostering agency (IFA) offering priority utilisation in regard to foster carers managed by the same IFA that reside outside of Bristol. Our overall aim of this soft block contract is to prevent children moving into residential care, where not appropriate. Once carers have been identified by our Home Finding Team (HFT) in partnership with the IFA, BCC children’s commissioning can utilise the agreed and current financial scheme of delegation to put funding for foster placements into place.
Procedure: not stated. Published 21 Sep 2026.
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