International Recruitment of Social Work - 1166
Framework Description
YPO's International Recruitment of Social Work framework (1166) supports councils recruiting adult and children's social workers from overseas, along with associated recruitment services. It is a single-lot framework, closed to new applications, running until 23 June 2027, with an option to extend by two further 12-month periods, so it could run until 23 June 2029.
Context & Use Case
Local authority adult and children's services departments seeking to fill social work vacancies use 1166 to bring in qualified practitioners from abroad through a pre-procured route instead of tendering themselves. The single lot covers both adult and children's roles, along with associated recruitment services.
Scope of Services
International recruitment of adult social workers International recruitment of children's social workers Associated recruitment services
Lots
Single lot
Who Can Apply
International recruitment agencies with experience of placing social workers in UK local authorities suit this framework. Applications are closed, so new agencies cannot join until the re-tender, expected around 23 June 2027, or later if YPO extends it.
Buyer Benefits
International recruitment brings compliance and safeguarding demands that are hard for a council to check alone. Using suppliers already assessed through YPO's tender reduces that risk and saves social care teams the time of running their own procurement for a specialist recruitment service.
Next Steps
Appointed agencies should be ready to show candidate pipelines, professional registration support and retention results in call-offs. Others should check YPO's page (https://www.ypo.co.uk/frameworks-home/900677) for news on extensions, then build a re-tender bid around evidence of compliant overseas placements into UK social work roles.
How Athena Can Help
For agencies on 1166, Athena can strengthen your call-off responses: our bid writing and win themes work turns placement and retention evidence into answers that score.
For agencies aiming at the re-tender, our framework registration help plans your preparation and assembles policies, case studies and compliance documents, while our public sector bidding support helps you build social value commitments and set prices councils will accept and you can still profit from.
