Playbook / Run the buying process
Using an energy framework: check the route, then execute the call-off
A framework can simplify procurement, but the individual award must follow its rules. Start by identifying the legal regime, eligible buyer, exact lot and permitted award method.
1. Identify the actual framework rather than a marketing label
Owner: school procurement lead. Obtain the framework title, reference, original notice, governing regime, buyer guide, lot, supplier list, call-off terms and expiry. A broker’s supplier panel, comparison service or registration with a trade body is not itself a public procurement framework. A dynamic purchasing system or dynamic market is a different commercial tool with different rules.
Document: framework eligibility and scope record. Gate: there is a real arrangement capable of covering this purchase. If using a TPI to navigate it, record what the framework procures: adviser services, energy supply, or both through defined arrangements. An adviser appointment alone should not be described as completing the school’s supply procurement.
2. Confirm the buyer, requirement and available framework value
Check that the school or trust is an eligible buyer under the framework’s original scope, that the required supplies and services fit the relevant lot, and that the proposed dates, options and value can be accommodated. Obtain clarification from the framework owner where the documents do not establish this clearly. Preserve the written response with the underlying source documents.
Independent schools should check actual access eligibility rather than assuming every public-sector framework accepts them. Maintained schools still need their LA and delegated-authority checks. Academy trusts still need to establish whether the chosen option is DfE approved or needs the alternative-deal value case. Framework membership is not an automatic finding that the purchase suits the school.
3. Establish whether PCR or the Procurement Act governs
A legacy framework whose procurement began under the previous rules continues under those rules, including its call-offs and their management, even after the framework itself expires. A call-off in November 2026 is not automatically a Procurement Act exercise. Use the framework’s actual procurement history, rather than the date printed on a refreshed brochure.
Owner: procurement lead with the framework owner. Document the regime and evidence before choosing the process. There is no licence to mix convenient parts of PCR and the Act. If the arrangement is a legacy DPS rather than a framework, its transitional end-date and award-notice rules differ; use its own buyer guide and competent advice. Checked 2 November 2026.
4. Select only the award method that the framework permits
For a single-supplier framework, the agreed terms can permit an award without further competition. For multiple suppliers, examine the stated competition or objective selection mechanism. Do not choose a favourite supplier and call the decision a framework direct award unless that method is authorised and followed.
Under a Procurement Act framework, award without competition to one of several suppliers requires the core terms and an objective supplier-selection mechanism. Under PCR, regulation 33 controls whether the terms support direct selection, reopened competition or a combination. Document the exact clause used and any owner confirmation. Gate: another reader can reproduce why this supplier-selection method is available.
5. Prepare the school-specific call-off pack
Owner: school data owner, finance evaluator and procurement lead. Complete the meter schedule, demand forecast, supply dates, service requirements, charge response, special conditions permitted by the framework and approval timetable. Use the mandatory order form and call-off terms. Do not replace them with an adviser’s or supplier’s own contract without checking compatibility.
The framework can limit how criteria, weightings, terms and pricing are refined. Under the Act, new call-off award criteria cannot simply be introduced; permitted refinement must remain within the framework. For PCR, follow regulation 33 and the framework documents. Ask the owner to resolve uncertainty before invitations, not after selecting the apparent winner.
6. Run further competition where required
Invite all capable framework suppliers in the relevant scope through the prescribed method. Explain the common requirement, clarifications channel, assessment basis, deadline and acceptance arrangements. Give sufficient time for the complexity; call-off competitions do not inherit a universal 25-day open-procedure deadline. Apply the relevant framework and legal requirements consistently.
Document invitations, acknowledgements, responses, clarifications and evaluation. Keep tenders unopened until the appointed deadline where the rules require it. Assess only by the permitted criteria and retain reasons for the recommendation. Resolve volatile energy pricing through a pre-agreed compliant mechanism; a framework is not permission to change the evaluated bargain freely after competition.
7. Use the correct notice and standstill branch
The table distinguishes ordinary school call-offs. Confirm the actual contract value and purchaser: a below-threshold call-off does not become an above-threshold public contract merely because the framework itself has a large value. Additional framework or local requirements may still apply.
The statutory notice branches assume the buyer falls within the relevant public procurement legislation. An independent school outside that scope must follow its governing and framework access terms; it should not automatically adopt contracting-authority duties solely because the arrangement is called a public-sector framework.
| Call-off branch | Before binding entry | After binding entry |
|---|---|---|
| Procurement Act public contract | Publish UK6. Statutory assessment summaries and mandatory standstill do not apply to framework call-offs. Any voluntary standstill stated in UK6 must be at least eight working days and observed. | Publish UK7 within 30 calendar days. For value exceeding £5m, assess KPI duties and publish contract within 90 days, subject to applicable rules. |
| Procurement Act below-threshold school contract | No public-contract UK6 or mandatory eight-working-day standstill. Follow the framework and school policy. | The school exclusion from Part 6 means no automatic regulated below-threshold UK7 requirement. Check any additional obligations. |
| Legacy PCR framework call-off | Use PCR and framework award process. Framework call-offs are exempt from the ordinary mandatory regulation 86 award-notification/standstill process; consider voluntary protection with advice. | Regulation 50(4) does not require an individual FTS award notice for each framework call-off. Maintained schools and academies are exempt from Part 4 Contracts Finder requirements; other purchasers may differ. |
8. Record optional feedback and binding acceptance carefully
Owner: procurement lead and signatory. Even where statutory assessment summaries are not required, provide appropriate written feedback and retain the evaluation; the framework may specify this. If applying voluntary standstill, use the correct regime and have the period checked. PCR and Procurement Act calculations are not interchangeable.
Approve final rates, complete terms, fees, meters and residual risks before acceptance. Identify when the contract becomes binding, including electronic or oral acceptance. Do not use a supplier sales confirmation to change mandatory framework terms silently. Gate: the approved call-off matches the permitted process and the final documents, not merely the framework’s logo.
9. Allocate duties rather than assuming the provider handles them
Ask who publishes notices, retains evidence, registers meters and performs first-bill checks. Record the framework owner’s role separately from the school’s, TPI’s and supplier’s. Obtain publication references and acknowledgements where relevant. A managed service can carry out tasks without removing the school’s responsibility for its own decision.
Finish with the framework evidence, award-method clause, competition or objective-selection record, approval, binding call-off, notice assessment and mobilisation plan. Diarise contract changes, reporting and renewal under the governing regime. The result should be a traceable school purchase; “we used a framework” is the beginning of that explanation, rather than its complete audit trail.