How to get onto UK public sector frameworks and dynamic markets

How frameworks work under the Procurement Act

A framework is an agreement between one or more buyers and a set of suppliers, setting the terms for future contracts, called call-offs. The Procurement Act 2023, live since 24 February 2025, made three changes that matter to suppliers:

	What it means for you
Standard frameworks	Up to 4 years (8 for defence, security and utilities), longer only if justified and published. Closed: no new suppliers mid-term.
Open frameworks	A scheme of successive frameworks on the same terms, for up to 8 years. Must reopen at least once in the first 3 years, then at least every 5. New suppliers join only at a reopening.
Dynamic markets	A list of suppliers who meet published membership conditions, open to new applicants at any time. Replaced dynamic purchasing systems.

Frameworks procured under the old 2015 rules before 24 February 2025 run under those rules until their call-offs end. Old dynamic purchasing systems must close by 23 February 2029.

Call-offs are awarded in one of two ways:

A competition among framework suppliers, using some or all of the framework’s original award criteria.
Without competition, through an objective mechanism set in the framework, such as rotation or ranking.

Contracts under a dynamic market are awarded only through the competitive flexible procedure.

Fees: a framework or dynamic market can’t charge you to join. A fee can only be charged on call-offs you win, as a fixed percentage disclosed in advance.

The big frameworks in 2026

Government Commercial Agency (GCA). Crown Commercial Service became the Government Commercial Agency on 1 April 2026; existing agreements continue. In 2025–26 its agreements carried £42 billion of spend from 18,800 customers, and 75% of suppliers on them were small businesses.

Agreement	Type	Key dates
G-Cloud 15 (RM1557.15)	Open framework, 5 lots, over 4,000 suppliers and 50,000 services; about 90% SMEs	Started 6 August 2026; reopens at 18 and 36 months; call-offs up to 60 months. G-Cloud 14 ends 28 October 2026.
Digital Outcomes and Specialists 7 (RM1043.9)	Open framework, 4 lots	Started 30 January 2026, 6-year scheme, reopens every 18 months. Opening 2 in summer 2027, with market engagement in autumn and winter 2026.
Technology Services 4 (RM6190)	Open framework, 9 lots and sub-lots	Started 12 December 2025, 8-year scheme to 2033; reopens before the end of years 3 and 5 (first iteration ends June 2028).
Construction Works and Associated Services 3 (RM6320, including ProCure 24)	Replaces RM6088 and ProCure 23	Expected live early 2027; current agreements expire 31 March 2027.

NHS. NHS Supply Chain buys for the NHS in England and publishes an 18-month pipeline of upcoming frameworks. Health Trust Europe and other NHS buying bodies run their own frameworks, some now open frameworks.

Local government and education. Purchasing consortia such as ESPO, YPO, NEPO and Crescent Purchasing Consortium run frameworks for councils, schools and colleges. They are funded by small rebates on spend through their frameworks.

Construction. Large construction frameworks include Scape, whose next £8 billion construction works framework (5 lots, up to 3 partners per lot) was tendered from late August 2026, with award due mid-2027. Others include Pagabo, Procure Partnerships, LHC and Fusion21.

How to find what’s coming

Pipeline notices: buyers spending over £100 million a year must publish the contracts over £2 million they plan in the next 18 months, within 56 days of the start of their financial year. Call-offs count toward the £100 million; frameworks themselves don’t.
Find a Tender: the official platform for every notice under the Act, including preliminary market engagement, tenders, awards and dynamic market notices. Contracts Finder still carries some below-threshold notices.
Reopening timetables: GCA agreement pages list when open frameworks reopen and when market engagement starts. Take part in engagement; it shapes the next round.

What you need to bid

Register on the Central Digital Platform. It’s free, uses GOV.UK One Login, and accepts non-UK addresses. Firms without a Companies House number get a platform identifier. You give buyers your identifier or share code.
Social value. Central government must weight social value at least 10% of the total score. From 1 January 2027 (PPN 026), it becomes 10% for contracts from £1 million to £5 million and 20% from £5 million, assessed at framework and call-off stage.
Carbon Reduction Plan. Required for major central-government contracts over £5 million a year (PPN 006).
Paying your own suppliers. For contracts over £5 million a year, you must pay invoices in an average of 45 days or less and 95% within 60 days (PPN 018). Buyers check this at framework award and before large call-offs.
Cyber Essentials. Required, at any value, for central-government and NHS contracts that handle personal data, government ICT at OFFICIAL level, or government business information (PPN 014).

Once you’re on

Win call-offs. Being on a framework guarantees no work. You win call-offs through competition or the framework’s direct-award mechanism.
Report management information and pay the fee on call-offs you win.
Expect performance reporting. Call-offs over £5 million need at least 3 KPIs, assessed at least every 12 months, with results published in a contract performance notice.

Small businesses and charities

Spend targets. Central-government departments must set targets for direct spend with SMEs (from April 2025) and with voluntary, community and social enterprises (from April 2026), to be met by March 2028 and published every year.
GCA figures. GCA spent £2.89 billion directly with 2,734 SMEs in 2025–26.
Subcontracting. Many small firms reach large frameworks through a main contractor’s supply chain. The government now runs spot checks on payment down supply chains (PPN 021).

Overseas suppliers

You don’t need a UK company. The Central Digital Platform accepts non-UK suppliers.

Treaty state suppliers can’t be discriminated against in covered procurements above the thresholds. They are suppliers from countries with an agreement listed in Schedule 9 of the Act: the WTO Government Procurement Agreement, the UK–EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement, CPTPP, and free trade agreements with Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Switzerland and others.
India joined the list when the UK–India trade agreement took effect on 15 July 2026.
Others can be excluded: buyers may exclude non-treaty suppliers in a competitive flexible procedure, though they’re told to do so only for value-for-money reasons.

Each framework also sets its own conditions of participation, so check the tender documents for the framework you’re targeting.

What changed in 2025–2026

24 February 2025: the Procurement Act 2023 went live, with open frameworks and dynamic markets.
1 October 2025: the 10% minimum social-value weighting became mandatory, and the stricter payment test (PPN 018) took effect.
December 2025 – January 2026: Technology Services 4 and Digital Outcomes and Specialists 7 launched as open frameworks.
1 April 2026: Crown Commercial Service became the Government Commercial Agency.
15 July 2026: the UK–India trade agreement took effect, making Indian suppliers treaty state suppliers for covered procurements.
6 August 2026: G-Cloud 15 launched as an open framework. G-Cloud 14 ends 28 October 2026.
Coming: from 1 January 2027, social value rises to 20% for central-government contracts of £5 million or more.

Questions

What is an open framework?

A framework under the Procurement Act 2023 that reopens to new suppliers on a set timetable: at least once in its first three years, then at least every five, for up to eight years in total. Standard frameworks, by contrast, are closed for their whole term of up to four years. G-Cloud 15, Digital Outcomes and Specialists 7 and Technology Services 4 are all open frameworks.

Can I join a UK framework after it has started?

Only at a reopening, if it’s an open framework. Standard frameworks don’t add suppliers mid-term. Dynamic markets, which replaced dynamic purchasing systems, are different: they must accept applications at any time from suppliers who meet the membership conditions.

Do I have to pay to get onto a framework?

No. Under the Procurement Act 2023, a framework can’t charge suppliers to join. A fee can only be charged to suppliers who win a call-off, as a fixed percentage of its value disclosed in advance. G-Cloud 15’s management charge is reported as 0.75%.

When does G-Cloud reopen?

G-Cloud 15 started on 6 August 2026 as an open framework and reopens at 18 and 36 months, so the first reopening is due around February 2028. G-Cloud 14 ends on 28 October 2026.

Can overseas suppliers get onto UK frameworks?

You can register on the Central Digital Platform with a non-UK address. Suppliers from countries with a procurement agreement listed in the Act, including WTO GPA members, the EU, CPTPP members and, since July 2026, India, can’t be discriminated against in covered procurements. Buyers may exclude non-treaty suppliers in some procedures, and each framework sets its own conditions.

What social value weighting do UK frameworks use?

Central government must give social value at least 10% of the total score. From 1 January 2027, under PPN 026, that becomes 10% for contracts from £1 million to £5 million and 20% from £5 million, assessed at both framework and call-off stage.

Sources

This guide explains the rules in plain English; it isn’t legal advice. Procurement rules change, and each tender document sets its own conditions — it always prevails.

How to get onto UK public sector frameworks.