---
title: "Transparency Notice for extension to Cabinet Office Call Off from Independent Shared Service Centre 2 (ISSC2 Framework)"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-07802e"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-07802e"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-07802e.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-07802e.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "Cabinet Office"
published: "2026-10-02"
---

# Transparency Notice for extension to Cabinet Office Call Off from Independent Shared Service Centre 2 (ISSC2 Framework)

Buyer: Cabinet Office  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-07802e

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## Summary

The Cabinet Office is extending business-critical back-office services covering human resources, finance and accounts, payroll, and procurement. These shared services support the department’s operational continuity while it moves to replacement providers through the Matrix programme. The requirement concerns business and management support services, including the continued operation of systems and processes that underpin payroll, HR and financial administration. Delivery is for the Cabinet Office in the United Kingdom.

The procurement is complete and the Cabinet Office selected Shared Services Connected Limited (SSCL) through a direct award. The award is valued at £22,918,000 excluding VAT (£27,501,600 including VAT). The contract period runs from 1 May 2027 to 31 October 2028, following an award dated 2 October 2026. The procurement comprises one lot. The Cabinet Office justified the direct award on technical grounds: the services depend on SSCL-managed proprietary systems and a complex legacy operating platform, making an interim supplier liable to cause incompatibility, disruption and duplicated costs. The extension continues services originally competitively procured in 2013 while the replacement arrangements are implemented.

For suppliers considering comparable future work with the Cabinet Office, this award shows demand for integrated, business-critical shared services across HR, payroll, finance, accounts and procurement. A credible competitor would need the capacity to maintain dependable, uninterrupted operations at central-government scale, alongside strong expertise in complex legacy platforms and interfaces. The transition context also points to the importance of supporting data migration, parallel running, cutover and exit from existing systems without disrupting payroll or financial processing. Cyber security, operational resilience and the ability to manage dependencies between legacy and replacement services would be material strengths. SSCL’s selection reflects the technical continuity requirements of this extension; suppliers seeking to compete for a later, replacement arrangement would need to demonstrate that they can meet the Cabinet Office’s service needs while managing transition risks.

## Notice

This notice signals the intention of the Cabinet Office to make a direct award to Shared Services Connected Limited (SSCL) to extend the Call-Off Contract held under the ISSC2 Framework for up to an additional 18 months. The extension is required to secure the continued provision of business-critical back-office operations, including human resources, finance and accounts, payroll and procurement to maintain operational continuity while transitioning services to replacement service providers under the Matrix programme. The direct award is justified under Schedule 5 of the Procurement Act 2023 due to technical constraints and the absence of competition for technical reasons, as an interim supplier would cause severe technical incompatibility, service disruption, and substantial duplication of costs.

### Procurement Information

Single supplier - technical reasons: The back-office operations rely on the legacy Single Operating Platform (SOP). The highly complex architecture and proprietary systems managed by SSCL mean no alternative supplier can step in for an interim period without causing severe operational disruption to payroll, HR, and financial administration. Additional or repeat goods, services or works - extension or partial replacement: This extension provides additional continuity of identical services following the original 2013 competitive procurement, where switching to an interim supplier before the Matrix go-live would cause disproportionate technical difficulty and substantial duplication of costs.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/093554-2026 |
| Notice type | UK5 - Transparency Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Direct |
| Procurement method details | Direct award |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 2 Oct 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 1 May 2027 - 31 Oct 2028 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £22,918,000 |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Complete |
| Awards status | Pending |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | Cabinet Office |
| Locality | LONDON |
| Postcode area | South West London |
| Postcode | SW1A 2AS |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLI London |
| ITL 2 | TLI3 Inner London - West |
| ITL 3 | TLI35 Westminster and City of London |
| Local authority | Westminster |
| Electoral ward | St James's |
| Westminster constituency | Cities of London and Westminster |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | Shared Services Connected Limited |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

### Codes

- 79400000 - Business and management consultancy and related services

## Release History

- 2 Oct 2026 at 17:07 - Award - UK5 - Transparency Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/093554-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/093554-2026
  2nd October 2026 - Transparency notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-07802e. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-07802e.json.