RM6399: £5bn Consultancy and Professional Services Framework Opens for Bids

The Government Commercial Agency (GCA) has launched RM6399 Consultancy and Professional Services, a new framework with an estimated value of £5 billion excluding VAT.

Replacing RM6309 Management Consultancy Framework Four (MCF4), the agreement will provide central government and the wider public sector with access to consultancy across 10 lots, covering strategy, transformation, finance, HR, procurement, health and social care, infrastructure, sustainability, restructuring and insolvency.

For consultancy businesses, the opportunity offers a route to public sector customers across a broad range of specialisms. However, the tender requirements vary considerably between lots, making careful lot selection and early evidence gathering essential.

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Framework Factfile

Framework: Consultancy and Professional Services
Reference: RM6399
Contracting authority: Government Commercial Agency
Estimated value: £5 billion excluding VAT
Number of lots: 10
Maximum number of suppliers: 500 across the framework
Replaces: RM6309 Management Consultancy Framework Four
Enquiry deadline: 3pm, 22 October 2026
Tender submission deadline: 3pm, 9 November 2026
Submission portal: GCA eSourcing platform
Expected award period: Summer 2027

The published notice reports the value, supplier ceiling and submission deadlines above. GCA’s agreement page currently lists July 2027 for framework award; bidders should follow the latest procurement timetable and portal updates.

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What Is RM6399 Consultancy and Professional Services?

RM6399 is being established under the Procurement Act 2023 to provide public sector buyers with a compliant route to purchase consultancy advice.

The framework brings together multidisciplinary providers and specialist consultancies, with suppliers ranging from SMEs to large multinational organisations.

For buyers, the agreement will offer standard terms and conditions, guidance and templates, supplier shortlisting support and a choice of pricing models, including time and materials, fixed pricing and risk-reward arrangements.

For suppliers, appointment creates an opportunity to compete for relevant public sector assignments. Securing a place does not guarantee work, so businesses should consider both their ability to win a framework position and their approach to pursuing subsequent opportunities.

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How Are the Lots Structured?

The framework comprises one multidisciplinary lot and nine specialist lots.

• Lot 1: Multidisciplinary
• Lot 2: Strategy & Policy
• Lot 3: Transformation
• Lot 4: Finance
• Lot 5: HR
• Lot 6: Procurement
• Lot 7: Health & Social Care
• Lot 8: Infrastructure & Public Service
• Lot 9: Environment & Sustainability
• Lot 10: Restructuring & Insolvency

The published notice identifies all 10 lots as suitable for SMEs and voluntary, community and social enterprises. Suitability still depends on meeting the relevant service, evidence and participation requirements.

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Lot 1 – Multidisciplinary

Lot 1 provides access to the service areas covered by Lots 2–9. The attached questionnaires divide its requirements into eight sublots, 1A–1H, with separate service-line confirmations and Technical Ability Certificates.

This means suppliers need to look beyond the multidisciplinary title and check the specific service lines they can deliver.

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Lots 2–9 – Specialist Consultancy

These lots cover individual consultancy disciplines, from strategy and transformation through to health and social care, infrastructure and sustainability.

They may be particularly relevant to businesses with a strong specialism and demonstrable experience in the corresponding service lines.

The quality questionnaire includes a separate scenario question for each of these lots, requiring bidders to explain their approach to the stated assignment.

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Lot 10 – Restructuring and Insolvency

Lot 10 covers restructuring and insolvency consultancy.

Its quality assessment differs from the other specialist lots, with separate questions covering advice delivery and restructuring advice. Suppliers should review these requirements alongside the applicable Technical Ability Certificate criteria before committing to a submission.

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Who Should Consider Bidding?

RM6399 could be relevant to:

• Management and multidisciplinary consultancies
• Strategy and policy specialists
• Business transformation consultancies
• Financial advisory businesses
• HR and workforce consultancies
• Procurement consultancies
• Health and social care advisory organisations
• Infrastructure and public services consultancies
• Environmental and sustainability specialists
• Restructuring and insolvency advisers

The strongest fit will depend on the detailed service lines, rather than the lot title alone.

Before selecting a lot, consider whether you can demonstrate relevant delivery experience, secure the required customer references and meet the operational and compliance requirements.

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How Will Bids Be Evaluated?

The published evaluation weightings differ significantly between lots.

Lot 1: 20% Quality/80% Price

Lot 2-9: 90% Quality/10% Price

Lot 10: 70% Quality/30% Price

These differences should inform both your lot selection and bid strategy. Lot 1 places substantial emphasis on price, while the specialist Lots 2–9 place the greatest emphasis on quality.

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Scenario Responses for Lots 2–9

Each of Lots 2–9 includes a scenario response carrying 80 percentage points of the overall evaluation, alongside the social value confirmation.

Responses are assessed using a 100, 70, 50, 30 or 0 marking scale and have a maximum length of 8,000 characters, including spaces and punctuation.

Bidders must address each sub-criterion in the specified order and clearly identify which one they are answering.

A strong response should explain how the proposed approach addresses the particular scenario. General descriptions of your consultancy, however impressive, will use valuable space without necessarily answering the question.

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Advice Delivery and Restructuring for Lot 10

Lot 10 contains two scored written questions:

• Advice delivery: 30%
• Restructuring advice: 30%

Each has an 8,000-character limit, including spaces and punctuation.

Suppliers should develop distinct responses that address each question’s assessment criteria, rather than repeating the same general capability statement.

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Mandatory and Social Value Confirmations

All lots include a mandatory confirmation that the supplier will deliver the requirements in Framework Schedule 1 – Specification.

The social value question asks suppliers to confirm that they will have the policies and processes in place to respond to and deliver buyers’ social value obligations at call-off stage.

Although the social value confirmation carries a 10% weighting, the questionnaire treats it as a pass/fail requirement. Selecting “No”, or failing to answer, can result in disqualification.

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What Other Requirements Should Suppliers Prepare For?

The Procurement Specific Questionnaire covers a range of participation and compliance checks alongside the quality responses.

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Insurance

Suppliers must confirm that they already hold, or can obtain before framework commencement, the required insurance levels:

• Employers’ liability: £5 million, where applicable
• Public liability: £5 million
• Professional indemnity: £5 million

Check your existing cover early so that any changes can be assessed before submission.

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Cyber Essentials

The questionnaire includes a Cyber Essentials requirement, with routes covering valid certification, a commitment to obtain certification and an appropriately verified equivalent.

Suppliers should check which route applies and the evidence required. A commitment to obtain certification needs to be supported by a practical plan to meet the stated timetable.

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Carbon Reduction Plans

The Carbon Reduction Plan section applies to Lots 2–10 and is explicitly marked as not applicable to Lot 1 sublots.

Requirements include a commitment to Net Zero by 2050, appropriate emissions reporting, environmental management measures and the necessary approval and publication arrangements.

A general environmental policy should not be assumed to satisfy these requirements.

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Financial Viability and Payment Practices

The questionnaire also includes financial viability checks and, where applicable, supply-chain payment assessments.

Prepare financial information and payment records early, and check whether any supporting explanation or action plan is required under the assessment rules.

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Central Digital Platform and Delivery Partners

Suppliers should ensure that their Central Digital Platform information is ready and that any required information for consortium members, associated persons and subcontractors is complete.

Where several organisations are contributing to a bid, agree responsibilities and evidence deadlines at the outset.

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What Should Consultancy Businesses Focus on Before Bidding?

Select Lots Based on Evidence and Capability

Start with the services you deliver well and the projects you can substantiate.

For each proposed lot, check the service lines, TAC requirements, quality questions, pricing approach and compliance obligations. This will help identify where your business has the strongest position.

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Secure Customer Sign-Off Early

Customer-approved TACs can become a bottleneck - identify suitable projects, check them against the certificate criteria and contact the relevant customers before drafting reaches its final stages.

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Build Responses Around the Assessment Criteria

For the scenario questions, explain your approach directly against each sub-criterion.

Show how you would organise delivery, address the stated challenges and achieve the required outcomes. Include supporting evidence where it strengthens the answer and is relevant to the question.

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Manage Character Limits Carefully

The written quality responses use character limits, rather than word limits.

The eSourcing tool uses text boxes of 2,000 characters, while the relevant written questions allow 8,000 characters overall.

Check the final text in the portal, including spaces and punctuation, and ensure nothing has been clipped when copying responses across.

The quality questionnaire does not permit attachments or external hyperlinks within quality answers, and additional documents will be ignored. Pricing must also be kept out of those responses.

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Align Pricing With Your Delivery Model

The different evaluation weightings make pricing particularly important when comparing Lot 1 with the specialist lots.

Build rates around the resources and delivery approach your business can sustain, and complete the relevant price matrix in accordance with its instructions.

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Procurement Timeline

The published submission dates are:

• 22 October 2026 at 3pm: Enquiry deadline
• 9 November 2026 at 3pm: Tender submission deadline

GCA’s agreement page currently lists July 2027 for framework award. Suppliers should monitor the eSourcing platform for the latest timetable, clarifications and document updates.

Tender documents and submissions are available through the GCA eSourcing platform.

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How Bid Writing Service Can Help

RM6399 requires suppliers to bring together customer-approved evidence, compliance information, pricing and tightly structured quality responses.

At Bid Writing Service, we can support consultancy businesses with:

• Bid/no-bid assessment and lot selection
• Tender planning and management
• TAC preparation and evidence coordination
• Scenario response development and bid writing
• Policy development and social value readiness
• Compliance checks and independent tender reviews
• Final quality assurance and submission support

Our support can be tailored to your internal resources, whether you need full bid management, additional writing capacity or a review of a submission prepared in-house.

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Final Thoughts for RM6399

RM6399 Consultancy and Professional Services offers a significant opportunity for businesses seeking to develop their public sector consultancy pipeline.

With 10 lots and different evaluation approaches, the first priority is deciding where your capabilities and evidence meet the requirements most convincingly.

For suppliers targeting Lots 2–9, the scenario responses will be central to the submission. For Lot 1 bidders, minimum service-line coverage and pricing require particular attention. Across the framework, customer-approved TACs and compliance checks need to be prepared alongside the written answers.

The submission deadline is 3pm on 9 November 2026.

If you’re considering RM6399, get in touch with Bid Writing Service to discuss your lot selection, tender requirements and the support your team needs.