Sustainability consultancy framework

In public procurement it is a framework agreement: a contract between a buyer, usually a central purchasing body such as ESPO or the Government Commercial Agency, and a group of pre-selected consultancies, under which eligible public bodies can award contracts for sustainability, net zero or carbon advice without running a full tender each time.

It can call off from a framework it is entitled to use, such as ESPO 500_23 or Lot 8b of ESPO/YPO 664_25, either by direct award where the framework allows it or by a further competition among the framework’s suppliers.

The framework’s own call-off procedure governs which route applies.

ESPO 500_23 has a Lot 1 for consultancy requirements under £50,000 and a Lot 2 for £50,000 and over.

Its initial term ended on 31 January 2026 with an option to extend for up to 24 months, and ESPO’s page showed it as active on 11 October 2026, so confirm the current end date with ESPO.

Yes.

Management Consultancy Framework Four, RM6309, has a Lot 9 for environment and sustainability, and every lot expires on 28 July 2027 with no extension.

Its successor, RM6399 Consultancy and Professional Services, is let under the Procurement Act 2023, and GCA estimates award in July 2027.

The ESPO notices list registered charities and registered social landlords among their user classes, and ESPO Trading may offer third-sector clients a separate commercial agreement.

The owner decides eligibility, so confirm with ESPO, GCA or NEPO before relying on a framework.

None of the notices read for this page lists a private company among its users, so a private buyer runs its own selection.

The lot descriptions are still a useful checklist for scoping the work.

A direct award picks a framework supplier without a fresh competition, which the framework must permit and the buyer must be able to justify.

A further competition invites the framework’s suppliers on the relevant lot to bid against the buyer’s own requirement, and it is the standard route on GCA’s MCF4.

Only where PPN 006 applies to the call-off: an in-scope central government buyer and an individual contract estimated above £5 million a year including VAT, averaged over its life.

A place on a framework neither triggers nor exempts it; GCA says all MCF4 suppliers have committed to comply with PPN 006 as required.

By bidding when the framework is let, which is advertised on Find a Tender.

Once a framework is awarded the supplier list is usually fixed until it is re-let, so watch for the successor notice, such as GCA’s RM6399.

No. UK SRS is an independent reference site; it has assessed no consultancy, publishes no consultancy prices or rankings, and names no supplier on this page.