Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government in relation to the contract for the grant to run a Support Service to the Free Schools Programme (1) when bids were invited, (2) where this was advertised, (3) when was the closing date for bids, and (4) what was the process for awarding the contract.

The department published an Invitation to Bid (ITB) for a grant to run a support service to the Free Schools Programme on 14 December 2017. The ITB was published on the Contracts Finder portal of the GOV.UK website. This is the standard advertising medium used for grants across the public sector.

The closing date for bids was midnight on 19 January 2018. Departmental officials will assess all bids received by the deadline against the selection criteria in the ITB. The final decision on awarding the grant rests with my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State. The outcome of the bidding process will be published on GOV.UK in due course.