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Introduction

Foreword by Andrew Forzani, Government Chief Commercial Officer

In an era where responsible stewardship of public funds is paramount, public sector procurement represents a substantial 拢400 billion in annual spending鈥攁pproximately one third of total public expenditure. The need for meticulous planning and management cannot be overstated, as it directly impacts the delivery of public services. The Government is determined to ensure public money delivers economic growth and supports small and medium enterprises (SME鈥檚), along with those in the voluntary, charity and social sectors (VCSEs).

Central to this endeavour is our commitment to transparency, a principle that not only enhances accountability but also fosters healthy competition within the markets we operate. By ensuring that our procurement processes are open and accessible, we can provide proper scrutiny of contract awards and demonstrate genuine value for money to taxpayers. A well-structured Commercial Pipeline serves as a vital tool in this landscape, offering critical insights that support the planning and execution of procurements, while simultaneously inviting a diverse range of suppliers to engage with future public sector contracting opportunities.

The publication of Commercial Pipelines promises substantial benefits鈥攆acilitating market engagement, optimising resource management, and bolstering transparency. It is essential that contracting authorities rise to the challenge of creating and disseminating comprehensive pipeline data, thereby enriching the potential of our procurement ecosystem. This provides the market with information about current and future public contract opportunities by publishing forward-looking procurement pipelines. This will be of particular benefit to SMEs and VCSEs by providing them with time to plan for future work, prioritise investment and ensure a competitive market.

In alignment with these objectives, the Government Commercial Function (GCF) has developed this Pipeline Guidance document. This resource is designed to empower public sector organisations in maximising the impact of their published pipelines, effectively balancing internal requirements with external market engagement. Additionally, it addresses the dynamic nature of procurement processes, offering strategies to navigate and communicate inevitable changes within the pipeline over time.

Underpinning this guidance are key legislative and policy frameworks, including the Procurement Act 2023, the National Procurement Policy Statement, and the Commercial Functional Standard (Gov008), among others. By leveraging these standards, we can build upon existing initiatives that aim to simplify engagement with the Government, thus fostering robust and productive relationships with both current and prospective suppliers.

Ultimately, by prioritising data transparency and opening up market access, we not only support wider economic growth but also create enduring value for the public sector and the communities it serves. Together, we can enhance the efficacy of public procurement, driving innovation and prosperity throughout the UK.

Andrew Forzani

Government Chief Commercial Officer.

Definition of a Commercial Pipeline

A commercial pipeline is a forward look of potential commercial activity for an organisation. It is a live tool, updated regularly, providing a list of prospective commercial activities planned by a Contracting Authority. It includes all future potential activity even if funding has not been secured.

Examples of commercial activities include the procurement of a contract or a framework, a call-off from a framework, a significant contract amendment^{[footnote 1]} or a contract extension.

You should consider how your commercial pipeline links with other business areas that may maintain a forward look of activities, such as investment forecasts, business plans, grants pipeline and commercial assurance.

Types of pipeline

There are three types of pipeline, listed below. In scope Contracting Authorities ^{[footnote 2]} will need to maintain all three:

1. Contracting Authority Internal Pipeline - all requirements and procurements across all regimes, to be documented internally听
2. Cabinet Office (Central Visibility) Pipeline - all requirements above 拢20m across all regimes (as per 鈥楳inimum Viable Pipeline鈥�, listed below), to be submitted to Cabinet Office
3. External Pipeline (Individual UK1 Pipeline Notices) - requirements above 拢2m under the Procurement Act 2023 regime must be published on (as per 鈥楳inimum Viable Pipeline鈥�, listed below). Departments may also choose to publish a pipeline of requirements across all regimes on .

Purpose of a Commercial Pipeline

Contracting Authority Internal Pipeline

An internal pipeline enables contracting authorities to forward plan and map out clearly the expected future commercial activity (new contract or framework, or major contract change or extension) that it is likely to be required. This can be used alongside other information on internal business planning and governance stages, and other related activities. By mapping out this management information and keeping this regularly refreshed, organisations can:

• Give sufficient planning time for developing and executing a robust commercial strategy, ensuring that all business and commercial options have been thoroughly explored.
• Outline when the required services are intended to be procured.
• Track commercial delivery.
• Give clear management information to inform current and future resourcing for commercial delivery.
• Reduce the need for unwarranted contract extensions by improved planning.
• Where required, support progressive and timely central commercial assurance and approvals.

Cabinet Office Pipeline

The Cabinet Office requires central visibility of a full procurement pipeline as a strategic tool to maximise value for taxpayers. Central visibility of all pipelines acts as a strategic asset, allowing identification of risks, informed resource planning, real-time insights, and identification of commercial opportunities to drive increased value.听

This Cabinet Office Pipeline submission will include procurements via PCR15 framework and Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) call-offs, as well as procurements under PA23 that will also have a UK1 Notice.听

External (Published) Pipeline

Large contracting authorities (with a spend above 拢100m p.a.) are required to publish a UK1 Pipeline Notice on for each opportunity in the next 18 months with an estimated value of more than 拢2 million. The collection of these individual UK1 pipeline notices (each about a unique procurement) will make up a contracting authority鈥檚 procurement pipeline over the upcoming 18 months.

Note: Pipeline information is for planning only and indicates potential opportunities, without committing to activity. Contracting authorities should be transparent about future procurements, sharing information as early and fully as possible, potentially using value ranges or approximate dates instead of precise details. For further information about maintaining a pipeline, see 鈥楳anaging Uncertainty鈥�, below.

UK1 Pipeline Notices must be published to:

• Stimulate the supplier market, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSEs), to make it aware of future opportunities, ensuring a competitive market exists.
• Ensure transparency when going to market.

Each notice comprises key information, including:听听

• Contracting authority information
• Title of the procurement
• Procurement reference听
• Contract subject-matter听
• Estimated date when the notice will be published
• Optional information such as contract value and sourcing method

Where there are national or international security-related reasons for not publishing information about a procurement, then this information should not be published. It is expected that there will only be a very small number of such exceptions.

What is a good pipeline?

Timeliness

A good commercial pipeline should be a live tool, updated at each major change and in a timely manner. Where possible, organisations should leverage procurement systems and automation to enable live updates to the pipeline.

Cabinet Office Pipeline听

In scope organisations^{[footnote 3]} that update pipelines manually must submit an extract of their internal pipelines to the Cabinet Office on a quarterly basis via the Commercial Agreement Management System (CAMS).听

The extract must comprise items above 拢20m. Please note that the submitted pipeline will be used for analysis and information purposes only and not for assurance activities, unless the submitting organisations choose to use the CAMS tools to submit documents for review, where such review has been agreed as part of HM Treasury approvals process for procurements above their Delegated Authority Limit (DAL). For further information on Commercial Assurance, contact commercialassurance@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

External Published Pipeline听

A contracting authority (that meets the UK1 Pipeline Notice publication threshold) should publish these routinely throughout the year as new requirements arise. In scope contracting authorities have 56 days from 1st April to meet compliance (i.e. by 26th May 2025) and publish their UK1 Pipeline notices on the . Thereafter they must update the notice at least annually.听

The pipeline notice covers any public contract with an estimated value of more than 拢2 million in respect of which the contracting authority intends to publish a tender notice or transparency notice during the reporting period. The 鈥渞eporting period鈥� means the period of 18 months beginning with the first day of the financial year - So the reporting period for the pipeline due in FY 26/27 will run from April 2026 until Oct 2027 and then the reporting period for FY 27/28 will run from Apr 2027 to October 2028.

Further information on UK1 pipelines is provided below, under 鈥楿K1 - the new Pipeline Notice鈥�, and on the UK 1 - The New Pipeline Notice guidance page.

Time period

The external published pipeline comprises all the contracting authority鈥檚 UK1 notices. This shall contain a forward look of commercial activities that are to take place in the next 18 months as a minimum. Where possible, contracting authorities should go beyond this to gather information about procurement activities they reasonably expect to undertake in the next 3-5 years.

Standardisation and Data Standards

To enable effective sharing and reporting of data, organisations should ensure that data captured is aligned to the Government Commercial Functions Data Dictionary, which is based on the . Standardisation of pipelines across Government will allow for cross-Government sharing of data and insights. This allows contracting authorities to plan together and ensure that their approach to the supplier market is optimised.

Minimum Viable Pipeline

A good commercial pipeline should also have sufficient information to support planning. To establish consistency across Government, the Government Commercial Function has outlined a 鈥淢inimum Viable Pipeline鈥� (MVP) which aligns to the UK1 Pipeline Notice mandatory requirements.听

The MVP (see Box 1) lists the minimum information (publishable requirements) as well as recommended additional information that shall be documented and maintained in a pipeline. Fields marked as 鈥淏est Practice鈥� can enable further insights and efficiencies. Further additions to the pipeline information may be included where they suit how your organisation operates (e.g. Framework, Triage Proposal, Contract Risk, suitability for SMEs etc).

While some information is expected to be unknown early in the process, all fields that are marked with an Asterix (*) should be available right from the beginning.

The MVP is designed to be owned by the contracting authority. Local terms that are equivalent to those outlined in the MVP can be used.

Summary of Pipeline Requirements: Minimum Viable Pipeline (MVP)听

No.	Field	Definitions	Published (external) Procurement Pipeline	Cabinet Office Pipeline (central visibility)
1	Reference number*	The unique reference number which a contracting authority will allocate to any commercial activity noted on the pipeline.	Required	Required
2	Open Contracting Identifier (OCID)	Where a UK1 Notice has been generated, include the OCID.	Required (where applicable)	Required (where applicable)
3	Contracting Authority Name*	Contracting Authority Name allocated to the organisation	Required	Required
4	Contracting Authority Public Procurement Organisation Number (PPON)*	Contracting Authority PPON allocated to the organisation	Required	Required
5	Business Area*	The business area/organisation owner for this contract.	Not required	Required
6	Procurement Title*	The planned or published commercial activity name.	Required	Required
7	Procurement Description*	A short contextual entry on the commercial activity. This must include what is being procured and reference the overarching programme the procurement forms part of, when relevant.	Required	Required
8	Commercial Strategy (anticipated)	The planned commercial approach for the commercial activity. Potential options include: 1. New requirement, 2. Re-procurement (same scope), 3. Re-procurement (different scope), 4. Extension (in contract), 5. Contract amendment. See below for definitions of these options (Supplementary Definitions)	Not required	Required
9	Existing Contract end date	The date on which the existing contract is due to end, i.e. the first date that the contract needs replacing by. (If this is a new requirement, please leave it blank.)	Not required	Required
10	Expected date for OBC	The planned date for internal approval of the Outline Business Case (OBC)[footnote 4] (or equivalent).	Not required	Required
11	Expected date for FBC	The planned date for internal approval of the Full Business Case (FBC) [footnote 5] (or equivalent).	Not required	Required
12	Estimated procurement start date	The planned date of official commencement of the procurement e.g. release of tender or commencement of a further competition under a framework agreement.	Required	Required
13	Estimated contract commencement date*	The planned start date on which the contract becomes effective.	Required	Required
14a	Estimated contract length*	The estimated duration (in months) of the contract excluding options to extend	Required	Required
14b	Estimated extension option听 - length	The estimated duration (in months) of the extension options, if applicable. (If not applicable, please leave it blank.)	Not required	Best practice
15a	Estimated contract value	The estimated total value of the new contract excluding options to extend.	Required (for requirements taking place in next 18 months)	Required听 (for requirements taking place in next 18 months)
15b	Delegated Authority Limit (DAL) Status	Confirmation of whether the overall procurement sits above or below the organisations DAL	Not Required	Required
15c	Estimated extension option - value	The estimated value of the extension options, if applicable. (If not applicable, please leave it blank.)	Not required	Best practice
16	Planned procedure type	The planned/expected procurement vehicle being used to source the contract, such as Open procedure, purchase from Framework Agreement or Dynamic Market (see Supplementary Definitions).	Required听 (for requirements taking place in next 18 months)	Required听 (for requirements taking place in next 18 months)
17a	Framework/DPS/Dynamic Market ID	The ID of the framework that the contracting authority plans to use to procure the contract. e.g framework ID under the Crown Commercial Services. This also includes frameworks by any other providers	Not required	Best practice
17b	Framework/Dynamic Market OCID	Where a Framework/Dynamic Market is being used that is using PA23, include its OCID.	Not required	Best practice (where applicable)
17c	Framework/DPS/Dynamic Market Name	Where applicable, the name of the Framework Agreement which the contracting authority plans to procure the contract. (If not applicable, please enter N/A.)	Not required	Best Practice
17d	Framework/DPS/Dynamic Market Lot	If the contracting authority is proposing to use a lot, the name as it appears on the framework providers website	Not required	Best Practice
18a	Spend category*	The procurement classification which is attributed to the commercial activity, in Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV) format.	Required	Required
18b	Spend category code*	The Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV) alphanumeric identifier relating to the main spend category.	Required	Required
19	Organisation category	Where applicable, procurement classification as per the organisation鈥檚 internal spend taxonomy. Where an organisation has a category management approach, this field would align with this taxonomy. (If not applicable, please enter N/A.)	Not required	Best practice
20	Contract Classification (Tiering/Type)	The tier of the commercial activity i.e. the level of importance of the contract in achieving organisational objectives, as per the organisation鈥檚 preference (Gold, Silver, Bronze).	Not required	Required
21a	Existing Contract	The name of the existing contract(s) where the commercial activity is intended to replace an existing contract, if applicable. (If this is a new requirement, please enter N/A.)	Not required	Required
21b	Existing Contract Reference number	The unique reference number which the contracting authority has allocated to the existing contract, if applicable. (If this is a new requirement, please leave it blank.)	Not required	Best practice
22	Existing Supplier	The current supplier of the service, if applicable. (If this is a new requirement, please enter N/A.)	Not required	Required
23	Main contact name	The name of the single point of contact. This is normally the commercial lead of the activity.	Not required	Required
24	Main contact email	The email address of the single point of contact.	Not required	Required
25	Supporting comments	Additional comments that Contracting Authorities want to share	Not required	Best practice

Policies relating to commercial pipelines

Ownership and maintenance of a comprehensive pipeline for the purpose stated above forms part of how contracting authorities should approach adherence to the Government Functional Standard, GovS 008: Commercial.听

Commercial activity must be published via a UK1 Pipeline transparency notice on Government Departments and Arms Length Bodies (ALBs) should also submit an extract of their full internal commercial pipeline to the Cabinet Office consisting of transactions with contract value 拢20m (excluding VAT) and above, with a minimum forward look of 18 months. Frequency of submission should be a minimum of every quarter.听

Other functions and/or business areas may also maintain a forward look of activities, for example investment forecasts, business plans, grants pipeline, digital and technology pipelines. The various pipelines will function differently and have some overlaps. They may include different information from the MVP (Box 1) that is specific to the sector. The commercial pipeline consists of commercial transactions while other non-commercial pipelines will or may include other project/programme spend including civil service resources.

Managing Uncertainty

Contracting authorities should add information about a potential commercial activity onto the commercial pipelines as early as possible. The information documented in their commercial pipelines should be as up to date as possible. There are times when plans change, and anticipated procurements may move, be amended or discontinued for a variety of reasons, including receiving feedback from market engagement, changes to funding, and changes to authorities鈥� strategy.听

Where information is not yet known, the contracting authority should enter approximate information and further information can be provided in the 鈥淪upporting Comments鈥� field. Commercial Leads should input accurate information at the time of completing the commercial pipeline; this information can be changed later in the development if required.

Judging what to publish

Contracting authorities are encouraged to be transparent about future procurements and share information as early and as fully as is possible. Where appropriate, organisations can consider publishing a range of values rather than precise information (such as providing a value range for contract value or only the month and year for dates).

Contracting authorities should come to reasonable judgements about which potential procurements to publish, considering the likelihood of the procurement going ahead and factors such as the availability of funding. There will be other times when procurements become required at short notice and may take place without having been included on a pipeline.

Information published on a pipeline is provided for planning purposes only and does not create any commitment to undertake all or any of the activities as set out in the pipeline. It is only an indication of potential opportunities. Similarly, contracts awarded for procurements that were not included on a pipeline will not be invalid because they were not included.

Regardless of the uncertainty, information in Box 1 that are marked with an Asterix (*) should be available right from the beginning rather than left blank.

Maintaining External Pipelines and Supporting Suppliers

In line with PA23 and Sourcing Playbook, publishing a forward look of procurement opportunities^{[footnote 6]} is one way of supporting potential suppliers and achieving a diverse mix of suppliers. Pipelines should be considered as one of a range of interventions to broaden and strengthen markets, including early market engagement, and activities to support new suppliers in understanding how to bid for public sector business.

The Sourcing Playbook provides the policy on publishing pipelines. Contracting authorities are encouraged to go beyond the minimum requirements, as detailed in this guidance. Organisations should consider how these requirements could be built on in the future to provide greater support to markets, and particularly to SMEs and VCSEs.

Republishing a Pipeline

Contracting authorities are encouraged to edit their existing pipeline notice on the and update the relevant dates (as opposed to creating a separate notice). This must happen no less than once a year, but contracting authorities are encouraged to review and update their information more frequently than this, best practice is every 6 months as a minimum. Contracting Authorities should allow sufficient time for internal review, redaction, and publication through communications teams to meet the legislated timeline. The length of the published pipeline will vary depending on the nature of the contracting authorities spend (see Supplementary Definitions for more information).

When should a Contracting Authority republish?

Annex

Supplementary Definitions

Ref	Field	Description
a	New Requirement	This is where there is a new requirement and this has not been procured in the past.
b	Re-procurement (same scope)	The re-procurement of a good or service with the same scope to the current contract.
c	Re-procurement (different scope)	The re-procurement of a good or service but with a different scope to the current contract.
d	Extension (in contract)	The current contract is being extended and has provision to do so.
e	Contract amendment	The current contract is being amended significantly.
f	Framework	This is a contract which is being procured via a framework.
g	Dynamic Market	This is a public sector sourcing tool for services and goods. It is similar to an electronic framework, but new suppliers can join at any time.
e	Pipeline Length	The time period that the pipeline covers. For both the external and internal pipeline, this covers the date that the pipeline is published to the start-date of the last recorded procurement activity.

Procedure types

The potential options for procurement procedure types are:

• Open procedure
• Competitive flexible procedure
• Dynamic Market
• Direct Award
• Award in accordance with a framework with competition
• Award in accordance with a framework without competition,
• below threshold procurement
• Non PA23 commercial tool - mini competition, or direct award

Contacts

Enquiries about this document should be directed to the Commercial Digital, Data and Shared Services Team at commercialdds@cabinetoffice.gov.uk