Planning

DEFRA Agency Planning Dashboard - Early Market Engagement

DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

PlanningUpdate

06 May 2026 at 16:05

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Planning

05 May 2026 at 09:22

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), located in London, with its offices at Seacole Building, 2 Marsham Street, is currently in the planning stage of procuring services for their “DEFRA Agency Planning Dashboard - Early Market Engagement” project. This initiative falls under the industry category of information technology services, with a focus on modernising the business planning dashboard to improve operational efficiency and reporting. The procurement process is aimed at understanding potential solutions for replacing the current legacy system, with a preliminary market engagement notice officially published on 6th May 2026. The critical deadline for interested parties to respond with engagement inputs is 22nd May 2026, while any clarification questions must be submitted by 15th May 2026.

This procurement process presents significant growth opportunities specifically for businesses specialising in information technology and software services, particularly those offering modern Software as a Service (SaaS) products. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that can deliver innovative solutions to enhance dependency visualisation, cross-plan impact assessment, and forecasting capabilities within a business dashboard will find this tender particularly beneficial. Engaging in this market exploration could not only provide valuable exposure to DEFRA’s high-level stakeholders but also pave the way for long-term engagements and further public sector contracts.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

DEFRA Agency Planning Dashboard - Early Market Engagement

Notice Description

The Planning Dashboard is a core tool used by the Business Planning Team to coordinate and monitor operational and business delivery across the agency. It captures and manages plans, milestones, dependencies, updates, and reporting, providing assurance and visibility to senior stakeholders. It also supports dependency visualisation, cross-plan impact assessment, and multi-year forecasting outputs. The team are looking to explore options for modernising/ replacing the legacy dashboard, which currently operates on an MS Access and macro-enabled Excel solution. The purpose of this early market engagement is to engage with the market to understand available solutions (including Software As A Service type products) and gather feedback on how supplier offerings could meet our needs.

Planning Information

Please find the questions for this early market engagement on this Microsoft form here - https://forms.office.com/e/bs8cAJ1xfu The deadline to respond to this early market engagement is the 22nd May at 5pm. The deadline to submit clarification questions is Friday 15th May. Please submit all clarification questions to izabella.roberts@defra.gov.uk. If you would like to receive the list of clarification questions and their responses, please email izabella.roberts@defra.com to be added to the mailing list.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-0690fb
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/041623-2026
Current Stage
Planning
All Stages
Planning

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Not Specified
Procurement Method Details
Not specified
Tender Suitability
SME
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

CPV Codes

72222300 - Information technology services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
6 May 20261 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
22 May 20262 weeks to go
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
3 Nov 2026 - 2 Nov 2028 2-3 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Planning
Lots Status
Planning
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
LONDON
Postcode
SW1P 4DF
Post Town
South West London
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI3 Inner London - West
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI35 Westminster and City of London
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Westminster
Electoral Ward
St James's
Westminster Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts. 

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