Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures the Department for Education are taking to ensure that information and advice services for families, including kinship carers of children at risk or involved in the care system, are provided without interruption over the next six months.

The department is in the process of tendering for "an information and advice service for families including kinship carers of children at risk or involved in the care system”.

Our intention remains to award this contract in March 2020 for the service to start on 1 April 2020. It is not the responsibility of the department to determine whether Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE) applies. However, it is the responsibility of the department to ensure that, where TUPE may apply, relevant information is made available to all suppliers.

Following a request by a potential bidder, the tendering deadline was extended to allow bidders time to factor TUPE information into their bids. The department will work with any winning bidder and the existing provider to ensure the service is not interrupted.