Upcoming
Procurement of Legal Investigation and Advocacy Service in Fitness to Practise
Social Work England · Central government
In brief
Social Work England has announced plans to buy legal work. This is an early notice: there is nothing to bid on yet, but it tells you a tender may follow.
The estimated value is £34,083,333 excluding VAT.
The contract runs for 3 years, up to 5 years with extensions, starting 1 June 2026.
Built from the notice's own fields. Always check the official notice before you bid.
Can I win this?
Key dates
- Questions by
- 11:59pm, Monday 23 February 2026
- Bids by
- 11:59pm, Saturday 28 February 2026
What the notice says
Introduction - Fitness to Practise
As part of our duty to protect the public, if a social worker falls seriously short of the standards expected of them, we can either remove them from the register or restrict what they can do professionally. These powers, given to us by Parliament, cover all registered social workers across both child, family and adult social care.
A social workers' fitness to practise may be found impaired for a number of reasons, including but not limited to:
• Conduct
• Competence
• Health
• Caution, Conviction or determination by another regulator
• Not having the necessary knowledge of English
When a service user, member of the public, employers or other public body has a concern about the standard of a social worker's practise, they can raise this with Social Work England.
We will undertake to investigate serious matters which may pose a risk to public protection or public confidence in the profession and take action to restrict a social worker's practice in circumstances where it is necessary to do so.
The successful Bidder/s will prepare cases for a fitness to practise hearings or meetings and to present cases before Social Work England's adjudicators.
How to bid
- Read the full notice on Find a Tender, including any tender documents it links to.
- Register your organisation on the Central Digital Platform (through Find a Tender) if you have not already. Suppliers need to be registered to take part in procurements under the Procurement Act 2023.
- Submit your bid through the buyer's e-tendering portal: in-tendhost.co.uk.
- Send clarification questions before 11:59pm, Monday 23 February 2026.
- Make sure your bid arrives before 11:59pm, Saturday 28 February 2026. Late bids are usually rejected.
Timeline
- Preliminary market engagement notice · UK2, notice 070197-2025
- Planned procurement notice · UK3, notice 078630-2025
About the buyer
Social Work EnglandLast 12 months
Procurements
2Awards
1Suppliers it has used most for legal
- Fieldfisher LLP1 contract
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From notice 070197-2025 on Find a Tender, first published 31 October 2025, last updated 1 December 2025. We last checked for changes on 27 September 2026.