The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office intends to establish a Security and Resilience Framework worth an estimated GBP 2.7 billion to support security and resilience work across UK Government.
The plan was set out in a pipeline notice published on the Find a Tender service on 29 May 2026 under the reference FCDO/13999/2027.
According to the notice, the FCDO is acting on behalf of UK government as a whole, and the framework will draw on both Official Development Assistance and non-ODA funding to deliver against cross-government security and resilience objectives.
The framework is intended to give buyers global access to qualified individuals and multidisciplinary teams supplying a mix of services and goods. The notice lists a broad span of activity, covering security, stabilisation, governance, justice, serious organised crime, counter terrorism, strategic communications, defence support and cyber security, while noting that the scope is not limited to those areas. Individual requirements would generally be commissioned through call-off further competitions run beneath the framework rather than awarded directly, an arrangement that lets the FCDO and other bodies compete specific tasks among appointed suppliers as needs arise.
The estimated total value is given as £2.7 billion excluding VAT, or £3.24 billion including VAT, over a contract term the FCDO expects to run from 1 November 2027 to 31 October 2030. A possible extension would carry the arrangement through to 31 October 2035, giving a potential life of eight years. The department has put the estimated publication date for the tender notice itself at 24 September 2026, which would open the competition to bidders later in the year.
The procurement is being run under the Procurement Act 2023, the regime that took effect across UK public bodies in February 2025 and introduced pipeline notices as a way for authorities to flag major upcoming requirements before formal tendering begins. The FCDO has classified the competition as a competitive flexible procedure and placed it under the Act’s light-touch regime, which applies to certain service categories and allows more procedural latitude than standard rules. The estimated value sits above the relevant threshold.
The notice records the framework as particularly suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises and for voluntary, community and social enterprises, signalling an intent to keep the supplier base open to smaller organisations alongside larger contractors. The contracting authority is identified as the FCDO at King Charles Street in London, with the work falling under Westminster for regional classification.
The range of services described spans diplomatic, consular and foreign economic-aid functions as well as military and civil defence work, reflected in the spread of common procurement vocabulary codes attached to the entry, from foreign-affairs and diplomatic services through to military and civil defence services.
This is good. Should keep a huge number of civil servants employed. Far better than wasting it on equipment.