Is PPN 06/21 still in force?

PPN 006 replaced it. PPN 006 applies to procurements under the Procurement Act 2023 advertised on or after 24 February 2025, so it is the note to follow for new bids. Many websites and older tender packs still link the old note.

Do I need to rewrite my PPN 06/21 Carbon Reduction Plan?

Usually not from scratch. The content of the plan is largely the same. Check it against the PPN 006 template and technical standard, update the declaration so it refers to PPN 006, and refresh the figures if they are more than a year old.

Does the NHS accept a PPN 006 plan?

Yes. NHS England's guidance says any current plan written to the central government PPN 006 standard is accepted. From 1 April 2027 its larger contracts and new frameworks ask for more: a global boundary and all relevant Scope 3.

PPN 006 vs PPN 06/21: what actually changed

Q: Did the £5 million threshold change?

PPN 006 asks central government buyers to request a Carbon Reduction Plan on contracts worth more than £5 million a year including VAT, where it is relevant and proportionate. Check the tender documents for each bid, because other buyers set their own thresholds.

PPN 006 replaced PPN 06/21 for procurements under the Procurement Act 2023 advertised on or after 24 February 2025. What goes in a Carbon Reduction Plan is largely the same: Scope 1, Scope 2 and five Scope 3 categories, a net zero commitment by 2050 and a director's sign-off. The main job for an existing plan is to check it against the PPN 006 template and update the declaration.

Updated 6 October 2026 by the Carbon Recycling team. Figures use the official UK government conversion factors and are checked against the current gov.uk guidance.

Why this keeps coming up

If you wrote a Carbon Reduction Plan a few years ago, it almost certainly says "PPN 06/21" somewhere, usually in the declaration at the end. Now tenders ask for a plan "in line with PPN 006", and it is fair to wonder whether yours still counts. The short answer is that the plan itself has barely changed. What changed is the procurement law it sits under and the name of the note.

Under PPN 006, central government departments and their agencies must ask bidders for a Carbon Reduction Plan when a contract is worth more than £5 million a year including VAT, where it is relevant and proportionate.

Side by side

	PPN 06/21	PPN 006
Status	Replaced by PPN 006	The current note
Which procurements	Procurements before PPN 006 took over	Procurements under the Procurement Act 2023 advertised on or after 24 February 2025
Plan contents	Largely the same: net zero commitment, baseline, current emissions, targets, reduction projects and a signed declaration
Emissions covered	Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 categories 4, 5, 6, 7 and 9, in tonnes of CO2e
Method	The GHG Protocol and the UK government conversion factors
Sign-off	Approved by the board or equivalent and signed by a director, with the date
Declaration wording	Refers to PPN 06/21	Confirms the plan follows PPN 006 and its technical standard

The PPN 006 column is taken from the Cabinet Office note and technical standard listed in the sources. We have not listed finer differences from the old note here; if a buyer asks about one, the technical standard is the document to check.

What you should actually do

If you already have a plan written under PPN 06/21, you are not starting again. Work through this short list:

Compare it with the PPN 006 template. Make sure all six sections are there, in the government's order. Our free template follows that format, so you can lay your plan alongside it.
Update the declaration. Change the reference from PPN 06/21 to PPN 006 and its technical standard. This is the change an evaluator is most likely to notice.
Check the figures are current. The technical standard asks for the plan to be reviewed and updated within six months of the end of your financial year. A plan still showing figures from two or three years ago looks stale whatever note it cites.
Use each year's own factors. Current emissions use the government conversion factors for that year; your baseline keeps its own year's set.
Get fresh sign-off. A director signs and dates the updated plan on behalf of the board. See who signs off a Carbon Reduction Plan.
Replace the old version on your website, keeping the same web address so links in past bids still work, and keep the earlier version available. Our post on publishing your plan covers the details.

What hasn't changed

The things that win or lose marks are the same under both notes. Evaluators still look for all five Scope 3 categories, including commuting, which is the one most often left out. They still want a baseline year you explain, targets on the way to net zero by 2050 at the latest, and reduction projects that match your biggest sources of emissions. Offsets still don't count as reductions. And the plan still has to be published where the buyer can find it. Our post on the five Scope 3 categories explains each one with a worked example.

Other buyers that use the same format

The note itself is for central government, but its format has spread. NHS England accepts any current plan written to the PPN 006 standard, and NHS Supply Chain's Evergreen Level 1 includes a PPN 006 Carbon Reduction Plan. Councils, housing associations, universities and large companies often ask for a PPN 006-style plan even on small contracts. Wales has its own version, WPPN 006, and Scottish public bodies set their own requirements, so read each tender carefully. If a tender pack still asks for a "PPN 06/21 plan", a plan that meets PPN 006 is the sensible thing to send, and you can mention that it follows the current note.

The full picture

This post only covers the switch between the two notes. For who needs a plan, what each section should say and the common reasons plans get marked down, read our complete guide to Carbon Reduction Plans and PPN 006.

How Carbon Recycling helps

Carbon Recycling produces your Carbon Reduction Plan in the PPN 006 format from your bills and records, with the right government factor applied for each year, and keeps it marked as a draft until a director's sign-off is recorded. When you add next year's data, the plan updates with it, so the annual refresh takes minutes rather than a rewrite.