Administrative social services

Tender description

The Scottish Government has a requirement to place a contract with an external service provider for the provision of Scotland’s Adoption Register. This comprises an online register that allows social workers to share information about children who have a plan for adoption with approved adopters in Scotland. The services also include hosting events such as adoption exchange days and adoption activity days as well as offering direct advice to local authorities about family finding for individual children or sibling groups. The estimated value of the contract includes both the 2-year initial contract period and the potential extension year. Scotland’s Adoption Register Regulations 2016 came into force on 1 April 2016 and enshrined the types of information about children and prospective adopters to be provided for inclusion in register. The 2016 Regulations also require local authorities and adoption agencies to refer children and adopters to the register through the national linking service within 3 months of the child being registered for adoption or, for adopters, within 3 months of being approved at panel. The purpose of the register is to ensure that when adoption is identified as the right plan for a child, a suitable placement can be found as soon as possible — providing a national system that helps local authorities and adoption agencies to explore the widest possible range of links from right across Scotland — and in some cases further afield. It does this by providing a national online linking service, hosting information events that allow adopters to find out more about children requiring placements directly from the people who know them best and by running activity days where children, adopters, foster carers and social workers have the opportunity to spend some time together. The register also works directly with agencies and practitioners to support the linking and matching process. The contract is expected to commence on 1 April 2020 until 31 March 2022, with the potential for extension until 31 March 2023 (the estimated value of the contract covers the potential 3 year period).