Child Poverty Strategic Partnerships

Introduction • This information note, along with the accompanying details, is being publicly shared via Find a Tender Service, making it accessible to all organisations in the market. • The purpose of this market engagement is to identify one or more partners who can work with the Department to help improve health outcomes for children living in poverty in England. • DHSC is specifically looking at collaborating on a “value in kind” basis with potential partners to deliver on the aims of the Child Poverty Strategy (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/696646bc99fbdc498faecd98/child-poverty-strategy.pdf), published in December 2025. There is no dedicated funding available for a strategic partnership in this space. This is not a public procurement exercise, nor a paid partnership or sponsorship opportunity and as such it will not lead to the award of a “public contract” as defined in the Procurement Act 2023. While Find a Tender Service would ordinarily be used in connection with a public procurement exercise, this is not the case here as it is being used to have a wide reach to the market. • The questionnaire will close for responses at 23:59 on Monday 3rd August 2026. Responses after this time will not be accepted. • DHSC will progress up to ten proposals that satisfy the criteria set out on page 3 of this notice. The final number of proposals selected will be based on the scoring methodology described herein, with those achieving the highest scores invited to enter negotiations. • Participation in this process does not create any obligation on either party to enter into a formal partnership or agreement. • DHSC recognises that organisations may wish to combine complementary skills, resources or experience by forming a consortium. We encourage strategic partnership proposals from consortia where they strengthen capability, capacity or coverage. Organisations submitting a consortium proposal must nominate a lead organisation to submit the proposal and act as the single point of contact. They must also clearly outline the consortium membership including the roles, responsibilities and contributions of each consortium member. • There are four scored questions for potential partners to answer. Each refers to key aspects of the partnership needs set out in Strategic Partnership Needs section of this notice. Each question will be scored on a scale of 0-4 which is set out below: Score Justification for Awarding Score 0 - The response does not demonstrate an understanding of the partnership needs and provides no confidence that the partnership needs will be delivered. 1 - The response meets elements of the partnership needs but raises concerns across several significant areas. There are reservations because the response shows: Some misunderstandings of the partnership needs, and a low level of information and detail provided. It provides insufficient confidence that the potential partner’s proposal will meet and deliver the partnership needs. 2 - The response broadly meets what is expected for the partnership needs, but there are some areas of concern. The response therefore shows: A reasonable understanding of the partnership needs with an acceptable level of information and detail provided. It provides reasonable confidence that the potential partner’s proposal will meet and deliver the partnership needs. 3 - The response meets what is expected for the partnership needs in all material respects, with no areas of concern. The response therefore shows: A good understanding of the partnership needs, and a good level of information and detail provided. It provides good confidence that the potential partner’s proposal will meet and deliver the partnership needs. 4 - The response exceeds many aspects of the partnership needs. There are no areas of concern. The response therefore shows: A very good understanding of the partnership needs, and very good level of information and detail provided. It provides a high degree of confidence that the potential partner’s proposal will meet and deliver the partnership needs. The response goes beyond partnership needs in some areas with evidence of added value beyond what was expected. In addition, the following criteria will be considered when scoring responses: Acceptability: Alignment with Child Poverty Strategy Practicability: Feasibility of partnership Effectiveness: Expected impact Side effects / safety: Alignment with DHSC policy Innovation: Level of ambition Political alignment: Alignment with political priorities Background and Scope Child poverty in the UK has increased by 700,000 since 2010/11, with 4 million children now living in poverty and 1 million having used foodbanks within the last 12 months . Tackling child poverty is central to this government’s mission to remove barriers to opportunity and raise the healthiest generation of children ever. Our Children, Our Future: Tackling Child Poverty Strategy (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/our-childre