G-Cloud 15 changes how SaaS deals must be structured
The UK’s cloud procurement framework has been rebuilt from the ground up. The master terms cannot be negotiated. Everything that matters now lives in the order form.
The Government Commercial Agency has introduced G-Cloud 15 under the Procurement Act 2023, with implementation creating a current contracting trigger for cloud suppliers and public sector buyers. Official buying guidance states that core terms cannot be changed.
What actually changed
Roughly 14 billion pounds over four years, over 4,000 suppliers, 90 percent of them SMEs.
The Government Commercial Agency, formed on 1 April 2026 from what was Crown Commercial Service, launched G-Cloud 15 on 6 August 2026 as its first framework under the Procurement Act 2023.
It consolidates G-Cloud 14 Lots 1 to 3, G-Cloud 14 Lot 4, and the separate Cloud Compute 2 framework into a single procurement vehicle, and buyers were able to start purchasing through it from mid-August 2026.
It is the most significant overhaul of the framework since G-Cloud began in 2012, and it is worth roughly 14 billion pounds over its four-year term.
Over 4,000 suppliers were awarded a place, and 90 percent of them are small and medium sized enterprises.
The part that catches people out
You cannot negotiate the master agreement. You negotiate the order form.
The Government Commercial Agency’s own buying guidance is explicit: the framework’s core terms cannot be changed by either party.
That surprises suppliers and buyers used to treating a procurement framework as a starting point for negotiation. Under G-Cloud 15, the negotiation happens somewhere else entirely.
Where the real negotiation happens
Scope, pricing, security, performance and exit all get resolved here, before the award, not after.
Because the master terms cannot move, every commercial point that actually matters to a specific deal, service scope, pricing structure, security requirements, performance levels, and exit or transition arrangements, has to be resolved through the order form and its schedules.
For a supplier, that means pricing delivery obligations against exactly this contract structure. A pricing model built for a negotiable master agreement will not translate cleanly onto a fixed one.
- Service scope, set out precisely in the order form, not implied from the framework.
- Pricing structure, matched to what the fixed terms actually allow you to deliver.
- Security and performance levels, specific enough to be enforceable on their own.
- Exit and transition terms, agreed at award, not negotiated later when leaving is urgent.
Choosing the right route to buy
The buying guidance draws this distinction deliberately. Getting it wrong affects what you can still change.
Buyers should choose the procurement route that fits the complexity of the requirement, competitive selection where genuine comparison between suppliers adds value, or an award without competition where the requirement and supplier are already clearly matched.
Because the core terms do not flex either way, the choice of route mainly affects the process of getting to award, not what can be agreed once you are there.
What this means if you are already on G-Cloud 14
G-Cloud 15 consolidates three prior frameworks into one. Check which lot your current agreement sits under.
If your current agreement was procured under G-Cloud 14 Lots 1 to 3, Lot 4, or Cloud Compute 2, those have effectively been folded into G-Cloud 15. Check with your supplier or procurement team whether a live agreement needs re-papering under the new framework, and on what timeline.
Questions this raises
Six questions G-Cloud 15 tends to prompt, answered directly.
What is G-Cloud 15?
G-Cloud 15 is the UK Government Commercial Agency’s cloud services procurement framework, launched and awarded on 6 August 2026 under the Procurement Act 2023. It consolidates the previous G-Cloud 14 lots and Cloud Compute 2 into one framework worth roughly 14 billion pounds over four years, with buyers able to purchase through it from mid-August 2026.
Does G-Cloud 15 let buyers negotiate custom terms with suppliers?
No. The framework’s core terms cannot be changed. Buyers select the procurement route that fits the requirement, competitive selection or direct award, and negotiate scope, pricing, security and exit requirements through the permitted order form and schedules, not the master terms.
Who can sell through G-Cloud 15?
Over 4,000 suppliers were awarded a place on at least one of the five lots, and the Government Commercial Agency states that about 90 percent of them are small and medium sized enterprises.
What should a supplier do differently under this framework?
Price delivery obligations against the actual contract structure the framework imposes, since the master terms are fixed. Any commercial flexibility a supplier needs has to be built into the order form and schedules, not assumed into the core agreement.
What should a buyer check before making an award?
Whether the requirement fits competitive selection or a direct award without competition, and whether the order form covers service scope, pricing, security, performance and exit terms in enough detail, since those cannot be revisited later by amending the core terms.
Is G-Cloud 15 only for UK public sector bodies?
It is a public sector procurement framework operated by the Government Commercial Agency, used by public sector buyers to purchase cloud services from listed suppliers under the Procurement Act 2023 regime.
Sources
- Government Commercial Agency, G-Cloud 15 launch, published 10 August 2026.
- GOV.UK, G-Cloud relaunches with biggest upgrade in its history.
Selling or buying cloud services through G-Cloud 15?
Eliga provides embedded commercial and technology counsel to scaling businesses. We can review your order form and schedules before award, where the real risk allocation actually happens under this framework.
This page is general information about commercial law and technology. It is not legal advice and does not create a solicitor-client relationship. Take specific advice on anything you are about to negotiate or sign.