Tender: Independent Foster Care Agencies Provision – Luton, Bedford, Central Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire

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Luton, Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Councils are seeking independent foster care providers to re-open and expand an Approved Provider List (APL) to deliver foster placements across Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and surrounding areas such as Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes, Northamptonshire and Cambridgeshire. Providers must be Ofsted registered as Good or Outstanding and must operate in accordance with the guidance in Working Together to Safeguard Children (2018) and any subsequent guidance. The APL was first commissioned in 2025 and this procurement re-opens the list to allow further providers to join; it is being procured under the Light Touch Regime of the Public Contract Regulations 2015 because the original APL was procured before the Procurement Act 2023 came into force.