Carbon Reduction Plans for tenders: when you need one and what goes in it
Published 30 October 2026
A Carbon Reduction Plan is a short public document that sets out your business's commitment to net zero, your current emissions and what you're doing to cut them. Some public tenders make it a pass or fail condition. Many smaller tenders don't ask for one at all. This guide covers which buyers have to ask, what the plan must contain and how often it comes up.
What a Carbon Reduction Plan is
The rules come from Procurement Policy Note 006 (PPN 006), published by the Cabinet Office. It replaced PPN 06/21 for procurements under the Procurement Act 2023. PPN 006 includes a template (Annex A) and a technical standard that sets out what the plan has to report.
When a buyer has to ask for one
PPN 006 applies to:
- Who: central government departments, their executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies.
- Which contracts: contracts with an estimated value above £5 million a year, including tax, unless a plan wouldn't be relevant to the contract or proportionate to it.
- Frameworks and dynamic markets: only where an individual contract under them is expected to be worth more than £5 million a year.
- When: procurements advertised on or after 24 February 2025. Older procurements fall under PPN 06/21.
The PPN 006 FAQ says the policy isn't stated to be mandatory for the devolved administrations. Other buyers, such as councils, decide their own conditions of participation, within the limits in section 22 of the Procurement Act 2023. So a buyer outside PPN 006 can still ask for one, and the tender documents are where you'll find out.
How often tenders ask for one
We searched the text of every new tender notice on Find a Tender between 1 September and 28 October 2026. Of 3,060 notices, 8 mentioned a "carbon reduction plan". All 8 stated a value of £5 million or more, and they were for medical equipment (5) and other goods (3). 109 notices mentioned carbon in some form.
That count only covers the notice itself. Requirements often sit in the tender documents, which we didn't search, so the real number may be higher. Still, it suggests that most smaller tenders in construction trades, training, transport, care, cleaning and catering don't put a Carbon Reduction Plan in the notice.
What the plan has to contain
The PPN 006 FAQ says buyers should check that your plan:
- is published on your website;
- has been signed off at an appropriate level and published since the tender notice came out, or in the 12 months before;
- includes a signed declaration that your business is committed to net zero by 2050 at the latest;
- reports your greenhouse gas emissions;
- sets out the environmental management measures you'll use when performing the contract.
For emissions, the FAQ asks for your UK Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, plus five Scope 3 categories: business travel, employee commuting, waste generated in operations, upstream transportation and distribution, and downstream transportation and distribution.
How buyers assess it
- It's pass or fail. Buyers in scope include it as a condition of participation. Plans aren't scored or compared, so a 2030 net zero target gets no more credit than a 2050 one.
- A CSR statement won't do. The FAQ says buyers can't accept corporate social responsibility statements, policies or case studies instead of a plan. Use the template.
- Higher emissions don't fail you. An increase on your baseline year doesn't mean the plan fails. You can explain the increase.
- Subcontractors don't need one under the policy, unless they also bid in their own right. In a consortium, each member should complete one.
- Main contractors may ask anyway. The FAQ notes that some suppliers set their own policies asking their supply chain for emissions data or a net zero commitment. That's between you and them.
Should a small business write one now?
If you bid for large central government contracts, or join a consortium that does, yes. You'll need a plan to get past the conditions of participation.
If you mostly bid for council, school or smaller contracts, it's a lower priority than the things buyers ask for more often, such as Central Digital Platform registration, accreditations and good quality answers. Our guide to winning public sector contracts covers those, and the PAS 91 guide covers the standard questionnaire. Environmental questions can also come up as social value questions. Our social value guide covers how to answer one.
Before you bid, read the tender documents for a Carbon Reduction Plan requirement. If it's there and you don't have one, writing and publishing a plan to the template takes time, so check the deadline first.
See where a Carbon Reduction Plan fits in a tender check
UK Tender Desk, from Your Evenings Ltd (that's us), is a one-off £149 diagnostic for small businesses in construction trades, training, transport, care, cleaning and catering. It's done for you. We look at live tenders on Find a Tender and Contracts Finder, pick up to 5 that suit a business your size, and tell you what to fix before you bid. It arrives by email within 5 working days of your form, with no call. If it's late, you don't pay. If no live tender fits, we say so and why.
See what the diagnostic looks like · Get your tender shortlist for £149
Sources
- GOV.UK: PPN 006: Taking account of Carbon Reduction Plans in the procurement of major government contracts
- GOV.UK: PPN 006 (HTML) (scope, £5 million threshold, timing, condition of participation)
- GOV.UK: PPN 006 frequently asked questions (devolved administrations, contents, emissions, assessment, subcontractors)
- Procurement Act 2023, section 22 (conditions of participation)
- Find a Tender
- Our counts: Find a Tender open data (OCDS), tender notices published 1 September to 28 October 2026, searched by Your Evenings Ltd on 30 October 2026. We searched notice text only, not tender documents.
This guide summarises the official sources above. It isn't legal advice. Check the notice and tender documents for each contract.
Written with AI assistance by the Your Evenings team at Your Evenings Ltd. Last updated 30 October 2026.