What Works Centre for Children and Families - Market Engagement January 2026

This is a Preliminary Market Engagement Notice for the continuation of the What Works Centre for Children and Families.

All information in this notice will be subject to ministerial agreement and internal approval including the estimated funding amount.

Reforming children’s social care to keep children safe and give them the best start in life is an important part of the Governments opportunity mission. Improving the evidence base on interventions that work is vital to the success of the reform programme. The department anticipate this grant to be used to generate and champion actionable evidence that improves services to support family relationships. This should include:

·       - Becoming a What Works Network member, operating independently and setting a strategy alongside DfE

·      -  Having a team of experts in conducting high quality evaluations, translating and disseminating evidence.

·       - Establishing relationships with policy makers and local leaders to establish and support delivery of interventions that work based on high quality evidence.

We are looking to share our high level requirements and strategy which would deliver this objective:

·       - collating existing evidence on the effectiveness of programmes and practices

·   -producing high-quality synthesis reports and systematic reviews in areas where they do not currently exist

·       - assessing the effectiveness of policies and practices against an agreed set of outcomes

·      -  filling gaps in the evidence base by commissioning new trials and evaluations

·       - sharing findings in an accessible way

·      -  supporting practitioners, commissioners and policymakers to use these findings to inform their decisions

We would expect that Cabinet Office's requirement of What Works Centre membership to be met in full: What Works Network membership requirements - GOV.UK