Scope
Reference
DN787667
Description
The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA) is on a journey to take back control of the city region's bus network through Bus franchising. The LCRCA will become responsible for 100% of the bus network, and will award contracts to operators to run these services on their behalf, with key performance metrics in place with constant monitoring of their performance.
In return for running these services, each Operator will receive a 4 weekly service payment.
We are looking to engage with the market to gain insights into Contract Management capabilities that will allow the LCRCA to ensure each Operators' service payment accurately reflects the contract in place and incorporates any performance measure adjustments.
Requirements
Please provide a demonstration of your solution. We are particularly interested in a CMS which will deliver:
CMS;
• Business as usual Franchise Contract management (New/change/cancel)
• Contract changes, temporary, emergency and permanent
• Excellent UI, maximum automation
• Ability to ingest bus timetable data in TxC format
• Logging of Breaches/fixed penalties
• Data export and dashboards
Payment Calculator;
• Ability to hold/refresh indexed elements used in payment calculations
• Integration with AVL data to calculate Indexed Lost Mileage, which has been approved by LCRCA
• Logging of Excusing Events and how data can be excluded from the calculation
• The calculation of bonus/deductions for:
• Start Point punctuality
• Intermediate point punctuality
• Vehicle compliance
• Customer Complaints
• Breaches
• Partnering & Growth element
• Patronage element
• Calculation of Service payment in line with payment schedule
• Calculation of performance adjustment
• Logging of miscellaneous payments
• Self-Billing invoice creation
• Approval & authorisation (by different roles) for payment
• Integration with payment system
The LCRCA requires suppliers to be compliant with either ISO27001 or Cyber Essentials Plus standards. Adopting a cloud-first strategy for all IT systems, the LCRCA mandates that any system must be fully hosted within the UK or EU. For ticket purchases, PCI compliance is essential. During the engagement session, suppliers are expected to detail their data requirements and specify the necessary feeds to ensure system functionality.
Total value (estimated)
- £950,000 excluding VAT
- £1,140,000 including VAT
Above the relevant threshold
Contract dates (estimated)
- 31 March 2026 to 30 March 2031
- Possible extension to 30 March 2033
- 7 years
Main procurement category
Services
CPV classifications
- 72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
Contract locations
- UKD7 - Merseyside
Engagement
Engagement deadline
5 September 2025
Engagement process description
LCRCA will be hosting an online 60-minute presentation session via Teams for interested suppliers between Tuesday 9 September and Wednesday 10 September.
LCRCA will present a slideshow for approx. 15mins, outlining the requirement and the expected quality levels we are looking for from bidders, with the remaining session time available for interested suppliers to ask questions.
Interested suppliers should confirm their attendance
to the presentation session to
Martin.McLoughlin@liverpoolcityregion-ca.gov.uk and
Karl.Bradbury@liverpoolcityregion-ca.gov.uk by no
later than midday on Friday 5 September 2025; following
which they will be sent an invite to the presentation
session.
A Q&A sheet capturing the discussion, and the
presentation slides will be shared as part of the
tender documentation for suppliers unable to attend
the session.
Participation
Particular suitability
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)
Submission
Publication date of tender notice (estimated)
3 November 2025
Contracting authority
Liverpool City Region Combined Authority
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PNDZ-8253-CJJM
1 Mann Island
Liverpool
L3 1BP
United Kingdom
Region: UKD72 - Liverpool
Organisation type: Public authority - sub-central government