Record the procurement reference, the policy evidence, the buyer type and the value including VAT. Keep unknown facts unknown. Mark each preparatory item present, missing or in progress. Ready to draft means those inputs are present and matched. It is not a submitted, approved or published Carbon Reduction Plan. The official template stays on GOV.UK.

Download the blank readiness file. Use the carbon data pack for Scope 1 and 2 evidence. Named GHG Protocol categories stay on the scope guide. Buyer-side procurement rules stay on the procurement guide. SECR is a Companies Act disclosure, not a CRP.

Which policy note applies

This file is not an automatic legal applicability tool. policy_note is ppn_006, ppn_0621 or unknown.

Record ppn_006 only when you hold dated evidence that the procurement was advertised on or after 24 February 2025 under the Procurement Act 2023, the buyer is assessed as a central government department, executive agency or non-departmental public body, the contract is not a special-regime contract, and it is a relevant contract: anticipated value above £5 million per year including VAT unless not relevant or proportionate. PPN 006 is the current note for those procurements.

A new call-off advertisement date alone must not silently select PPN 006 for a legacy framework established under the old regime. Record framework_or_call_off, framework_established_date and procurement_regime.

Record ppn_0621 for procurements that commenced before 24 February 2025, including those awarded later under the old regime, and for qualifying legacy-framework call-offs that continue under that regime. Do not classify solely by award or advertisement date. Historical PPN 06/21 references remain for those older procurements.

Unknown facts stay unknown, including whether the buyer is an in-scope organisation, whether the contract is special-regime, whether it is a relevant contract, and the overall applicability conclusion. Unknown applicability blocks an overall conclusion and must not become not in scope.

PPN 006 is not stated to be mandatory for Devolved Administrations. That is not proof a devolved or other buyer cannot request a CRP. Record buyer_stated_requirement separately.

The FAQ says Carbon Reduction Plans are not scored, a CSR statement cannot replace a CRP, and contracting authorities should consider how to minimise burden, including for SMEs and VCSEs. That burden language is not an exemption from providing a CRP when the note applies.

Readiness items, not a CRP

Save a copy of the blank file and type into the copy. The files are plain CSV with no formulas and no emissions column. Do not reproduce the official template.

The file uses three record types on one union header: request, item and overall.

Request fields include the procurement reference, buyer type, advertisement date, framework or call-off, procurement regime, special-regime flag, policy note, policy evidence, contract value with VAT, assessed applicability and the source of that assessment.

Item rows are either preparatory or final_plan. Preparatory items are the Net Zero 2050 UK operations commitment, Scope 1 results, Scope 2 results, Scope 3 categories 4, 5, 6, 7 and 9, and environmental management measures. Named GHG Protocol categories stay on the scope guide. Final-plan items stay separate: board or equivalent approval, director or designated-member sign-off, UK website publication, the written-copy alternative, and the actual review or update date.

readiness_status is not_started, in_progress, evidence_ready_to_draft or not_assessed. evidence_ready_to_draft means the preparatory inputs are present and matched: UK-boundary inventory results for a consistent reporting year, the Net Zero 2050 commitment, and environmental management measures. It is not a submitted, approved, signed or published plan. An uncreated draft does not need fictitious approval dates. Final-plan checks cannot be marked present merely because preparation is complete.

Inventory evidence must cover the required UK boundary, a consistent reporting year and relevant results, not merely raw bills or the carbon data pack. Voluntarily excluded data-pack categories cannot automatically satisfy CRP categories. A genuinely inactive source needs a recorded justification, not a generic not-applicable tick.

The technical standard says a CRP is a summary, not a replacement for the organisational footprint. Publish the plan on a UK website or, if there is no website, provide a written copy to anyone who requests one within 30 days. Board or equivalent approval, with the date, is separate from director or designated-member sign-off, with name, job title and date. Record actual review and update dates, not only an update-within-six-months flag. There is no requirement to have the footprint audited.

Keep the official template on GOV.UK. This page does not host a competing CRP worksheet.

Worked example: Northgate checks a request

Northgate Services is fictional. The excerpt is a request from a fictional central government department advertised on 3 March 2026 as a new Procurement Act 2023 procurement, not a legacy-framework call-off. policy_note is ppn_006. Applicability is recorded as applicable on those fictional facts.

The 2025 carbon data pack is evidence collection, not calculated Scope 1 or 2 results, so those items stay in_progress. Categories 4, 5, 6, 7 and 9 are missing. Category 5 stays missing even though the data pack left it outside the selected 2025 inventory. Final-plan approval, sign-off and publication remain missing with blank dates. readiness_status is in_progress, not evidence_ready_to_draft. The file is not a CRP.

Item Kind Status
Net Zero 2050 commitment Preparatory Missing
Scope 1 and Scope 2 results Preparatory In progress: pack holds source records, not calculated results
Scope 3 categories 4, 5, 6, 7 and 9 Preparatory Missing
Board approval and director sign-off Final plan Missing, dates blank
Website publication or written copy Final plan Missing

Limits

Do not host a Verda CRP template or emissions sheet. Do not tell every supplier they must have a CRP. Do not use this file as SECR. Buyer-side procurement rules stay on the procurement guide.