Implementing and Testing a Single Unique Identifier and Data Standards for Children (Local Authority Operational Alpha Pilot)

Description

The Department for Education (DfE) is procuring up to four Case Management System (CMS) Suppliers to participate in the Alpha phase of the Single Unique Identifier (SUI) programme and the implementation and testing of data standards for Children. The programme forms part of the Government's commitment to improve Multi-Agency Information Sharing (MAIS) and introduce a SUI for children. It will test the use of the NHS Number as a consistent identifier within Children's Social Care (CSC) systems and the adoption of common data and technical standards through existing local authority CMS platforms. The Alpha phase is intended to generate evidence on technical feasibility, implementation effort, onboarding and assurance requirements, operational impacts, delivery costs and supplier readiness to support future national rollout decisions. Suppliers will work with DfE, NHS England and participating local authorities (LA’s) to integrate with the DfE-hosted "Get an Identifier" service, implement agreed data and technical standards, support testing and live operational activity, and provide evidence and lessons learned to inform future policy, technical, operational and commercial decisions. DfE intends to appoint a maximum of four CMS Suppliers through this procurement. Suppliers will be required to recruit and work with participating LA’s, undertake onboarding and assurance activities, implement and test the required functionality within their CMS products, provide reporting and evaluation outputs, and develop indicative assumptions regarding wider deployment, including implementation approaches, costs, timescales and key dependencies. We intend to award contracts for the duration of the Alpha phase, subject to agreement with CMS suppliers and Departmental governance, encompassing implementation, testing, reporting and end-of-Alpha pilot evaluation activities. DfE will use the findings generated through the Alpha to assess the viability, scalability and affordability of wider implementation across the CSC sector. Supplier participation in the Alpha pilot does not guarantee any future contract, procurement opportunity or wider rollout arrangement.

Key facts

Procedure

Direct award

Lots

1

Contact

Sabiha Museji

Commercial.DDAT@EDUCATION.GOV.UK

Contract period

4 Dec 2026 → 30 Jun 2027

Value incl. VAT

£505k

Category

services

Awarded suppliers

• System C Healthcare Limited · GB-COH-01754990 · UKJ14, GB
• Azeus UK Limited · GB-COH-07264372 · UKJ25, GB
• Civica UK Limited · GB-COH-01628868 · UKI44, GB
• Access UK Ltd · GB-COH-02343760 · UKF22, GB

Ground given for limiting competition

The buyer’s own stated reason for awarding without open competition, as published. Their assertion, not a finding.

DfE intends to award up to four contracts directly under section 41 and Schedule 5, paragraph 2 of the Procurement Act 2023 (Prototypes and development). The contracts concerns the development and testing of novel services at the DfE’s request. For the Single Unique Identifier (SUI), the Suppliers will design, build, test and implement an API solution to enable integration between its existing case management system (CMS) and the DfE’s Get an Identifier service. The Data Standards element will require development of, or changes to, the Supplier’s existing CMS to enable agreed Data Standards to be implemented and tested in live CMS environments. The purpose of the Alpha is to test the suitability and viability of these solutions and the wider delivery model. This includes testing operation across different CMS architectures; retrieval, matching, storage and use of NHS numbers and associated information; technical and assurance barriers; data quality and remediation; implementation effort, timescales and costs; operational impacts; and the implementation and use of Data Standards. The work is being undertaken for testing, research and development purposes to generate evidence about whether the proposed delivery model is technically, operationally and commercially capable of wider implementation. The contracts and deliverables are limited to the work required for those purposes. The Department is currently undertaking negotiations with each of the four suppliers identified as suitable to participate in the pilot activity and intends, subject to the successful conclusion of those negotiations, to award a contract to each supplier. The proposed awards are not confirmed at this stage. The final award position, included the confirmed Contract value will be determined through a subsequent Contract Award Notice.