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PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITY

Open Access LandIS Portal

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS · compiled

Tender information last checkedLast checked 29 Sept 2026, 21:51.

Opportunity overview

The existing LandIS agreement between Cranfield University (CU) and Defra sets out the conditions under which Defra can access:<br/><br/>• The platform which is owned and hosted by Cranfield for the provision of National Soil Map (NATMAP)<br/>• National Soil Inventory (NSI) and soil attribute data (SOILSERIES & HORIZON), and its supplementary data bases (broadly: the LandIS platform data).<br/><br/>All Crown bodies currently enjoy full royalty-free access to LandIS, and this available to charities and research institutions. Non-crown bodies such as the Environment Agency or Natural England, and other public sector bodies, private individuals, consultants, and businesses do not have royalty-free access to this data.<br/>Defra and Cranfield University are working towards reducing or removing some of the licencing restrictions pertaining to the afore mentioned datasets.

Awarded to

Amounts belong to published awards or contracts. Where several suppliers share one value, it is labelled as shared and is not a supplier-specific allocation.

Cranfield University

Matched by exact name
Contract value
£6.5m
Awarded
Not supplied
Contract signed
19 Feb 2025
Award ID
005783-2025-1
Status
active
Identifier
N/A
Location
Bedforshire, UK, MK43 0AL, United Kingdom

Cranfield University

Matched by exact name
Contract value
£14.2m
Awarded
Not supplied
Contract signed
28 Sept 2025
Award ID
066137-2025-1
Status
active
Identifier
N/A
Location
Cranfield, UK, MK43 0AL, United Kingdom

Classification

  • CPV90714100 — Environmental information systems
  • CPV72267100 — Maintenance of information technology software
  • CPV72300000 — Data services

Lots

  • The existing LandIS agreement between Cranfield University (CU) and Defra sets out the conditions under which Defra can access:<br/><br/>• The platform which is owned and hosted by Cranfield for the provision of National Soil Map (NATMAP)<br/>• National Soil Inventory (NSI) and soil attribute data (SOILSERIES & HORIZON), and its supplementary data bases (broadly: the LandIS platform data).<br/><br/>All Crown bodies currently enjoy full royalty-free access to LandIS, and this available to charities and research institutions. Non-crown bodies such as the Environment Agency or Natural England, and other public sector bodies, private individuals, consultants, and businesses do not have royalty-free access to this data.<br/>Defra and Cranfield University are working towards reducing or removing some of the licencing restrictions pertaining to the afore mentioned datasets.Value not stated

Published notice details

Additional information from the published procurement release. Fields appear only when supplied by the source; check the original notice and tender documents before acting.

Scope, procedure and submissions

Id
C30438
Status
complete
Has Options
Yes
Has Renewal
No
Procurement Method
limited
Main Procurement Category
services
Procurement Method Details
Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
Why this procedure was chosen
Cranfield University and Defra own separate and joint Intellectual Property in the NATMAP, NSI and other associated supplementary Databases. This project will allow for the majority of the databases to be accessed via the Open or Restricted License by removing the current licencing requirements, whilst allowing the IP rights to be retained. This is a compliant Single Tender Action under Regulation 32 Public Contracts Regulations 2015, as we are protecting the exclusive rights held by both Defra and Cranfield University.

Options

Description
4 year initial term + 3 year option to extend (subject to budget confirmation and contract negotiations)

Covered By

GPA

Amendments

Entry 1
Id
2

Unstructured Changes

Entry 1

Where

Section
II.1.4.1

New Value

Text
The existing LandIS agreement between Cranfield University (CU) and Defra sets out the conditions under which Defra can access:• The platform which is owned and hosted by Cranfield for the provision of National Soil Map (NATMAP)• National Soil Inventory (NSI) and soil attribute data (SOILSERIES & HORIZON), and its supplementary data bases (broadly: the LandIS platform data).All Crown bodies currently enjoy full royalty-free access to LandIS, and this available to charities and research institutions. Non-crown bodies such as the Environment Agency or Natural England, and other public sector bodies, private individuals, consultants, and businesses do not have royalty-free access to this data.Defra and Cranfield University are working towards reducing or removing some of the licencing restrictions pertaining to the afore mentioned datasets.

Old Value

Text
The existing LandIS agreement between Cranfield University (CU) and Defra sets out that Cranfield charges for access to its datasets and limits how they can be used, which broadly encompasses:• The platform which is owned and hosted by Cranfield for the provision of National Soil Map (NATMAP)• National Soil Inventory (NSI) and soil attribute data (SOILSERIES & HORIZON), and its supplementary data bases (broadly: the LandIS platform data).All Crown bodies currently enjoy full royalty-free access to LandIS, and this available to charities and research institutions. However, non-crown bodies such as the Environment Agency or Natural England, and other public sector bodies, private individuals, consultants, and businesses do not have royalty-free access to this data, which significantly hampers the use of soil data more widely. Most significantly, the current licencing limits how Defra can use these data sets to further its policy objectives.The decision has been taken between Defra and Cranfield University for Cranfield to make the majority of the aforementioned data openly available. This will open up access to key datasets for land managers, farmers, planners, partner organisations to support major 25 YEP initiatives such as ELMS, Nature Recovery Network, Local Nature Recovery Strategies, Agricultural Land Classification (ALC), NCEA, and also contribute to Net Zero work.
Entry 2

Where

Section
II.2.4.1

New Value

Text
The existing LandIS agreement between Cranfield University (CU) and Defra sets out the conditions under which Defra can access:• The platform which is owned and hosted by Cranfield for the provision of National Soil Map (NATMAP)• National Soil Inventory (NSI) and soil attribute data (SOILSERIES & HORIZON), and its supplementary data bases (broadly: the LandIS platform data).All Crown bodies currently enjoy full royalty-free access to LandIS, and this available to charities and research institutions. Non-crown bodies such as the Environment Agency or Natural England, and other public sector bodies, private individuals, consultants, and businesses do not have royalty-free access to this data.Defra and Cranfield University are working towards reducing or removing some of the licencing restrictions pertaining to the afore mentioned datasets.

Old Value

Text
The existing LandIS agreement between Cranfield University (CU) and Defra sets out that Cranfield charges for access to its datasets and limits how they can be used, which broadly encompasses:• The platform which is owned and hosted by Cranfield for the provision of National Soil Map (NATMAP)• National Soil Inventory (NSI) and soil attribute data (SOILSERIES & HORIZON), and its supplementary data bases (broadly: the LandIS platform data).All Crown bodies currently enjoy full royalty-free access to LandIS, and this available to charities and research institutions. However, non-crown bodies such as the Environment Agency or Natural England, and other public sector bodies, private individuals, consultants, and businesses do not have royalty-free access to this data, which significantly hampers the use of soil data more widely. Most significantly, the current licencing limits how Defra can use these data sets to further its policy objectives.The decision has been taken between Defra and Cranfield University for Cranfield to make the majority of the aforementioned data openly available. This will open up access to key datasets for land managers, farmers, planners, partner organisations to support major 25 YEP initiatives such as ELMS, Nature Recovery Network, Local Nature Recovery Strategies, Agricultural Land Classification (ALC), NCEA, and also contribute to Net Zero work.

Legal basis

Id
32014L0024
Scheme
CELEX

Techniques

Has Framework Agreement
No
Has Dynamic Purchasing System
No

Suitability

Sme
No
Vcse
No

Tender Period

Starts
24 Feb 2025, 00:00

Classification

Id
90714100
Scheme
CPV
Description
Environmental information systems

Contract period

Ends
30 Jun 2029, 01:00
Starts
1 Jul 2025, 01:00

Additional Classifications

Entry 1
Id
72300000
Scheme
CPV
Description
Data services

Procedure reasons

Entry 1
Id
D_OUTSIDE_SCOPE
Scheme
TED_PT_AWARD_CONTRACT_WITHOUT_CALL
Description
The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the directive

Lots and requirements

Entry 1
Id
1
Status
cancelled
Has Options
Yes
Description
The existing LandIS agreement between Cranfield University (CU) and Defra sets out the conditions under which Defra can access:<br/><br/>• The platform which is owned and hosted by Cranfield for the provision of National Soil Map (NATMAP)<br/>• National Soil Inventory (NSI) and soil attribute data (SOILSERIES & HORIZON), and its supplementary data bases (broadly: the LandIS platform data).<br/><br/>All Crown bodies currently enjoy full royalty-free access to LandIS, and this available to charities and research institutions. Non-crown bodies such as the Environment Agency or Natural England, and other public sector bodies, private individuals, consultants, and businesses do not have royalty-free access to this data.<br/>Defra and Cranfield University are working towards reducing or removing some of the licencing restrictions pertaining to the afore mentioned datasets.

Options

Description
4 years 5 months + 1 year + 1 year + 1 year

Award criteria

Criteria

Criterion 1
Type
price

Items and delivery

Item 1
Id
1
Related Lot
1

Delivery locations

Entry 1
Region
UK
Entry 2
Region
UK
Entry 3
Region
UK

Additional Classifications

Entry 1
Id
72267100
Scheme
CPV
Description
Maintenance of information technology software

Buyer, suppliers and contacts

Organisation 1
Id
GB-FTS-138262
Name
Defra Group Commercial

Roles

buyer

Address

Region
UK
Locality
London
Postal Code
SW1P 4DF
Country Code
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom
Street Address
Seacole Building, 2 Marsham Street, London

Details

Business Area
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

Identifier

No Identifier Rationale
notOnAnyRegister

Contact

Name
Jemma Godleman
Telephone
03459335577
Organisation 2
Id
GB-FTS-118855
Name
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS (Defra Network eTendering Portal)

Roles

buyer

Address

Region
UK
Locality
London
Postal Code
SW1P 4DF
Country Name
United Kingdom
Street Address
Seacole Building, 2 Marsham Street

Details

Classifications

Entry 1
Id
MINISTRY
Scheme
TED_CA_TYPE
Description
Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local subdivisions
Entry 2
Id
05
Scheme
COFOG
Description
Environmental protection

Identifier

Legal Name
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS (Defra Network eTendering Portal)

Contact

Name
Jemma Godleman
Organisation 3
Id
GB-FTS-138416
Name
Cranfield University

Roles

supplier

Address

Region
UK
Locality
Bedforshire
Postal Code
MK43 0AL
Country Name
United Kingdom
Street Address
Cranfield, Bedfordshire,

Details

Scale
large

Identifier

Id
N/A
Legal Name
Cranfield University

Contact

Telephone
+44 1234750111
Organisation 4
Id
GB-FTS-69584
Name
Public Procurement Review Body

Roles

reviewBody
mediationBody
reviewContactPoint

Address

Locality
N/A
Postal Code
N/A
Country Name
United Kingdom
Street Address
N/A

Details

Identifier

Legal Name
Public Procurement Review Body

Contact

Organisation 5
Id
GB-FTS-139505
Name
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Roles

buyer

Address

Region
UK
Locality
London
Postal Code
SW1P 4DF
Country Name
United Kingdom
Street Address
Seacole Building, 2 Marsham Street

Details

Classifications

Entry 1
Id
MINISTRY
Scheme
TED_CA_TYPE
Description
Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local subdivisions
Entry 2
Id
05
Scheme
COFOG
Description
Environmental protection

Identifier

Legal Name
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Contact

Name
Jemma Godleman
Organisation 6
Id
GB-FTS-164152
Name
Cranfield University

Roles

supplier

Address

Region
UK
Locality
Cranfield
Postal Code
MK43 0AL
Country Name
United Kingdom
Street Address
Cranfield, Bedfordshire,

Details

Scale
large

Identifier

Id
N/A
Legal Name
Cranfield University

Contact

Telephone
+44 1234750111

Award information

Award 1
Id
005783-2025-1
Status
active

Suppliers

Supplier 1
Id
GB-FTS-138416
Name
Cranfield University

Related lots

1
Award 2
Id
066137-2025-1
Status
active

Suppliers

Supplier 1
Id
GB-FTS-164152
Name
Cranfield University

Related lots

1

Contracts and changes

Entry 1
Id
005783-2025-1
Status
active
Award ID
005783-2025-1
Date Signed
19 Feb 2025, 00:00

Value

Amount
6,500,000
Currency
GBP
Entry 2
Id
066137-2025-1
Status
active
Award ID
066137-2025-1
Date Signed
29 Sept 2025, 00:00

Value

Amount
14,184,518
Currency
GBP

Recorded locations

  • Buyer location · London · UK · SW1P 4DF · United Kingdom
  • Delivery location · UK

Notice and amendment history

1 published notice version reviewed by ProcuraAxis.

1 VERSION
  1. ocds-h6vhtk-04e30b-2025-10-17T09:49:49+01:00compiled ·