How much does a Carbon Reduction Plan cost in the UK? (2026)

There are three practical ways to produce a compliant CRP, and they sit at very different price points. The first is do-it-yourself using the free template published by the Government Commercial Agency (GCA, formerly Crown Commercial Service). The template and its accompanying Carbon Reduction Plan technical standard cost nothing to download, but you supply the emissions calculations, the DEFRA factors and the write-up yourself — usually 20 to 40 hours of staff time.

The second route is software: a tool such as CarbonPass turns your bills and a few answers into a compliant plan in about 20 minutes, from £199 a year. The third is a consultancy, which does the work for you for a one-off fee of roughly £900 to £4,200 plus VAT, usually over two to six weeks. The content of the finished plan can be identical across all three — the GCA technical standard sets the bar, not the route — so the real trade-off is between your money, your time and the assurance you want. The table below compares them at a glance.

The headline price is rarely the whole story. Three costs catch businesses out. The first is annual updates: PPN 006 requires the plan to be refreshed at least once a year and re-signed by a director, so whatever route you pick, budget for a recurring cost rather than a one-off. A £1,500 consultancy fee quietly becomes £1,500 every year if you go back to them for each refresh.

The second is data-collection time. Whichever route you choose, someone has to gather 12 months of gas, electricity, fuel, fleet and business-travel data. On the DIY route that legwork sits entirely with you, on top of the 20 to 40 hours of drafting; software and consultants shift some of it, but you still have to find the numbers.

The third, and biggest, is rejection risk. Under PPN 006 a CRP is assessed as a pass/fail gate: if the plan is judged non-compliant with the GCA technical standard, the bid is excluded before price or quality is even scored. A cheap or free plan that gets your bid thrown out is the most expensive option of all — you lose the whole contract, not just the fee you saved. For high-value NHS or central-government tenders, that downside dwarfs any difference between the three routes.

The right route depends on two things: how big and complex your operations are, and how often you bid. If you have a confident in-house team, simple single-site energy use and you only need a CRP once, the free GCA template is a reasonable choice — you are trading time for money, and the government publishes everything you need.

If you are an SME that bids regularly and cannot spare 20 to 40 hours per refresh, software is usually the best value: the annual update is included, the DEFRA factors stay current, and the plan is produced in minutes rather than weeks. If you are a larger or more complex operation — multiple sites, fleet vehicles, significant Scope 3, or a high-value tender under close scrutiny — a consultancy (or software plus expert review) can be worth the premium for the assurance and the hand-holding.

Many bid-heavy SMEs land in the middle: they use software for speed and cost control, and bring in a consultant only for their first plan or their largest tenders. Whatever you choose, weigh the fee against the value of the contracts it unlocks — for most bidders the plan costs a fraction of a single tender. If you are weighing software against a consultant, our consultant vs software decision guide settles it honestly; see whether CRP generators are accepted for how buyers judge each route, and the government template guide if you plan to do it yourself.

Is the government template really free?

Yes — the official Carbon Reduction Plan template is free to download from GOV.UK. The only cost is your time, typically 20 to 40 hours of staff work to gather data and write the plan, plus the risk of getting it wrong: a non-compliant plan can see your bid excluded before it is scored.

What do consultants charge for NHS bids?

Typically £900 to £4,200 plus VAT as a one-off, depending on your headcount and scope. A small single-site service business sits at the lower end, while a larger operation with fleet vehicles, multiple sites and complex Scope 3 data sits at the upper end.

Is £199 software accepted by procurement teams?

Yes — acceptance is about content, not who produced it. Procurement teams assess whether the plan meets PPN 006 and the GCA technical standard, not which tool generated it. See our guide on whether CRP generators are accepted at /guides/are-crp-generators-accepted for the detail.

How often do I have to pay again?

PPN 006 requires at least an annual update, so budget for a yearly refresh whichever route you choose. DIY time and consultancy fees recur each year you re-do the plan, while most software plans include the annual update in the subscription.