Award

Provision of Interim Rural Transport Services

  • Bedford Borough Council

F15: Voluntary ex ante transparency notice

Notice identifier: 2024/S 000-020117

Procurement identifier (OCID): ocds-h6vhtk-04791f

Published 2 July 2024, 2:06pm



Section one: Contracting authority/entity

one.1) Name and addresses

Bedford Borough Council

Borough Hall,Cauldwell Street

BEDFORD

MK429AP

Contact

Commercial Hub

Email

commercial.hub@bedford.gov.uk

Telephone

+44 1234718282

Country

United Kingdom

Region code

UKH24 - Bedford

Justification for not providing organisation identifier

Not on any register

Internet address(es)

Main address

http://www.bedford.gov.uk

one.4) Type of the contracting authority

Regional or local authority

one.5) Main activity

General public services


Section two: Object

two.1) Scope of the procurement

two.1.1) Title

Provision of Interim Rural Transport Services

two.1.2) Main CPV code

  • 60112000 - Public road transport services

two.1.3) Type of contract

Services

two.1.4) Short description

Bedford Borough Council is implementing an interim contract in respect of rural bus transport, from 1 August 2024 until 31 March 2025.

two.1.6) Information about lots

This contract is divided into lots: No

two.1.7) Total value of the procurement (excluding VAT)

Value excluding VAT: £600,147

two.2) Description

two.2.3) Place of performance

NUTS codes
  • UKH24 - Bedford
Main site or place of performance

Bedford Town and surrounding villages.

two.2.4) Description of the procurement

The contracted bus operator will deliver 4 existing bus routes (Bedford - Peppercorn Park, Bedford - Rushden, Bedford - Ravensden, and Bedford - Pertenhall) for a period of 8 months.

two.2.5) Award criteria

Price

two.2.11) Information about options

Options: No


Section four. Procedure

four.1) Description

four.1.1) Type of procedure

Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the cases listed below

  • The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the regulations

Explanation:

This contract has been awarded for reasons of extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable by the contracting authority, under Regulation 32 (2)(c) of Public Contract Regulation 2015.

It had been anticipated that the current contract would be extended for a short eight month period commencing 1st August 2024, to allow for a new contract to commence April 2025. It has not been possible to procure a new contract, which is dependent on a network redesign, to commence in August 2024 due to the authority's obligations under the terms of its Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) grant funding which cease in the new financial year 2025/26.

However, the current operator has now deregistered the services, meaning in order to continue to deliver our rural transport service for residents they must be performed by a different operator after 31 July 2024. The authority believes that the timescales of this, in combination with the timescales of registration of a new operator with the Traffic Commissioners, preclude a tender exercise and having satisfied itself that only one commercial operator other than the incumbent is capable of fulfilling the service, wishes to award a contract to Cambus Ltd t/a Stagecoach East.

four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)

The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: No


Section five. Award of contract/concession

Title

Provision of Interim Rural Public Transport Services

A contract/lot is awarded: Yes

five.2) Award of contract/concession

five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract

2 July 2024

five.2.2) Information about tenders

The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No

five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor/concessionaire

Cambus Ltd t/a Stagecoach East

C/O Stagecoach Services Limited One Stockport Exchange, 20 Railway Road

Stockport

SK1 3SW

Email

commercial.hub@bedford.gov.uk

Country

United Kingdom

NUTS code
  • UKH - East of England
Companies House

01822941

Internet address

http://www.bedford.gov.uk

The contractor/concessionaire is an SME

No

five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot/concession (excluding VAT)

Initial estimated total value of the contract/lot/concession: £600,000

Total value of the contract/lot/concession: £600,147


Section six. Complementary information

six.4) Procedures for review

six.4.1) Review body

High Court of Justice

London

Country

United Kingdom