National contracts for the placement of children and young people
Local authorities purchase children's services from the public, private and voluntary sectors. This has led to a wide variety of contracting arrangements for services such as special-school placements, residential-care placements and foster-care placements.
The Department for Children, Schools and Families, working with the Department of Health, has supported the development of standardised contracts which can be used by all local authorities when purchasing placements in the private and voluntary sector. The aim of these contracts is to minimise duplication, share good practice, simplify transactions for both commissioners and suppliers and ensure a fair and transparent market.
Two national contracts have been published: the national contract for the placement of children in independent special schools; and the national contract for the placement of children in residential homes. The national contract for foster-care placements is being developed.
A National Contracts Steering Group supports the development of national contracts. It acts as a national reference point, advises on information sharing between commissioners and providers, and reviews development and use of national contracts.
National contract for non-maintained and independent special schools
The national contract for the placement of children in non-maintained
and independent special schools is the first in a suite of national
contracts. It has been developed and made available for use by local authority
commissioners and all providers in the non-maintained and independent-schools
market.
For full details, the contract and supporting documents, go to National
contract for non-maintained and independent special schools held in the
Resource and Practice section.
National contract for children's residential homes
The national contract for the placement of children in residential homes is the second in a suite of national contracts. It has been developed and made available for use by local authority commissioners and all providers in the children's residential-homes market.
For full details, the contract and supporting documents, go to National contract for children's residential homes held in the Resource and Practice section.
Development of a national contract for foster care
A national contract for the placement of children into foster care is being
developed. This contract will be the third in a suite of national contracts and
is being developed for use by local authority commissioners and all
providers in the foster-care market.
For full details on the development of the contract, including information
about the consultation process, go to Development
of a national contract for the placement of children
in foster care held in the Resource and Practice section.
This page was last updated on 22 July 2008
