2021 Somerset County Council DPS for the Provision of Passenger Transport

Somerset County Council wishes to establish a new Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) under which all procurement activity for the provision of high quality and cost effective Passenger Transport will be conducted.

This is to replace the current Passenger Transport DPS which expires on 31st March 2021. All existing suppliers will need to reapply to the new DPS.

The type of transport the Council provides includes Home to School transport service for children in mainstream education and children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), Children and Adult Services, County bus services, Ad Hoc Taxis and Minibus / Coach hire, and any other passenger transport services. On certain routes there is a requirement for regular drivers, and/or passenger assistants.

The Council also provides scheduled local bus services to meet public transport requirements which would otherwise not be met; these are scheduled public passenger transport services that transport citizens within the boundary of Somerset County Council and across neighbouring council boundaries, when the Council provides additional subsided services.

The DPS will commence on 1st April 2021 and will run for 5 years (to 31st March 2026) with the option to extend by 2 further periods of 2 years each (Maximum of nine years in total to 31st March 2030).

The total value of the DPS over the total agreement period for all four Lots is GBP 230,000,000

Somerset County Council is managing this procurement process in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/102)

The DPS is split into four Lots; suppliers will be able to bid for one or more Lots as follows –

Lot 1: Vehicles over 23 Passenger Seats

Lot 2: Vehicles 9 to 22 Passenger Seats

Lot 3: Vehicles up to 8 Passenger Seats

Lot 4: Vehicles up to 8 Passenger Seats where contracts are required on an accelerated timescale