Official UK procurement notice
ECS6 Framework · UK public procurement notice
Authority: NATURAL ENGLAND (Defra Network eTendering Portal)·On behalf of: DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe ECS6 Framework is a flexible procurement tool used by Natural England and other Defra group bodies to contract in services from vetted and approved Suppliers. The Framework is due to launch on 1st August 2027 and will operate over a 7-year period, with a 1-year option to extend.
ECS6 will follow on from the current Environment, Training, Advice and Facilitation (ETAF) Framework and will support projects across Natural England and the wider Defra Group.
The main objectives of the Framework are to provide a range of advisory support, facilitation activities, and training services through an integrated, consistent, targeted, high quality, and cost-effective framework.
We are looking for Suppliers who are able to provide these services in one or more of the following topic areas:
- Water Quality and Protection, & Air Quality and Ammonia Reduction
- Environmental Management
- Farming and Forestry Prosperity and Investment
- Agricultural Regulatory Baseline
- Natural Capital and Nature Recovery
- Climate Change adaptation and mitigation and Carbon Accounting
- Soil Management and Protection
- Training and Accreditation
- Freshwater Resources and Flood Risk Management
- Natural England Programme Delivery Support
The ECS6 framework is designed to be a NIL value contract and will include a wide range of Suppliers who will be able to provide the range of services required, covering the whole of England at a Lot level basis to meet agreed geographical requirements and objectives.
CPV: Environmental management
How this framework works
From the published notice- Framework period
- 7 yrs · up to 8 yrs from 1 Aug 2027
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1PlannedRenewal
What it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
- “ECS6 Framework” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, not a single contract.
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How NATURAL ENGLAND (Defra Network eTendering Portal) buys Environmental management (CPV 9071), and who usually turns up
NATURAL ENGLAND (Defra Network eTendering Portal)’s published record next to the market for the same work. Compared with other frameworks and DPS only. Whole-market view: Environmental management (CPV 9071) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
i
How often small and medium firms win.
Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.
The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered outside the region where that award was delivered.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards have an award date within 55 days of the bid deadline.
i
How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Missing bid counts may hide more single-bid awards. This share is a minimum.
How many bids did past lots attract?
i
How many bids past lots received.
Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.
Past bids do not predict this tender.
1 bid8%
2–318%
4–629%
7+45%
How did awards compare with estimates?
i
Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.
On a framework or DPS, prices are agreed when work is called off.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Not comparable on a framework or DPS: the price is set later, on each call-off.
Assess each lot i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list
Lot #1CPV 9071Published estimate£100m
i
How many bids this lot may attract.
The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.
Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 38 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid8%
2–318%
4–629%
7+45%
i
Where the award price may land.
The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.
No comparable awards for this lot yet.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Who has supplied this buyer on similar work? i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
Who could compete for this lot? i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
- Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
- Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
- Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Framework agreement
- Who may use this agreement
- Not stated in the notice; call-off rights may be limited to the establishing authority
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 22 Oct 2026, 17:08 BST
- Last source update
- 22 Oct 2026, 17:08 BST
- Authority reference
ECS6- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-100186- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-078e53Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Appointment period ends
- —
Timeline
22 Oct 2026 → 1 Aug 2027 · 4 dates- Planning notice published3 days ago22 Oct 2026, 17:08 BST
- Today25 Oct 2026
- Market engagementin 12 days5 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
A webinar will be held for prospective bidders at 13:30 on Thursday 5th November 2026. Supplier's wishing to attend can do so via the link below
events.teams.microsoft.com/event/b3dbda08-0086-… ↗
A copy of the specification can also be provided on request. This is provisional and may be subject to change prior to the tender being issued.
- Tender notice expectedin 37 days30 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 280 days1 Aug 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published22 Oct 2026, 17:08 BSTUK2
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
2 public bodies on the noticeOther public bodies
- DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRSProcuring entityDefra Group Commercial leading on the procurement on behalf of Natural England
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender