Mini Bus Assisted Home To School Travel

Overview: Middlesbrough Council is conducting a Pre-Market Engagement Activity to inform the potential future procurement of a Specialist Minibus Managed Service for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), as well as for social care establishments. This engagement seeks to gather information and expressions of interest from experienced and capable transport providers who can deliver a fully managed, high-quality, reliable, and safe daily transport service using a fleet of Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles (WAVs) and non-WAV minibuses.

Current Service Provision: The Council currently provides daily assisted travel for approximately 370 children and young people, transporting them from their home address or a designated central pick-up point to their educational setting and returning them at the end of the school day. The number of service users may fluctuate daily based on individual needs and service area requirements. While a portion of this cohort is transported via taxis (for those able to travel in cars), a significant number require minibus transport due to their specific needs.

Scope of Future Requirements: We are seeking to engage with providers who can demonstrate the capacity and capability to:

Deliver a contracted, specialist minibus managed service for SEND pupils and social care users.

Operate a fleet of WAV and non-WAV vehicles suitable for transporting children and young people with a range of physical, emotional, and cognitive needs.

Manage a multi-route network across various schools and establishments within Middlesbrough and potentially surrounding areas.

Provide trained and experienced drivers and passenger assistants, ensuring safeguarding, dignity, and comfort for all passengers.

Offer flexibility and responsiveness to accommodate changing service demands.

Deliver a comprehensive management solution, including scheduling, route planning, compliance monitoring, and performance reporting.

Objectives of the Pre-Market Engagement: This engagement aims to:

Understand the current market capacity and interest.

Identify innovative approaches and best practices in SEND transport.

Inform the development of a future procurement strategy and service specification.

Ensure the Council's commissioning approach is aligned with market capabilities and user needs.

Who Should Respond: We welcome responses from:

Established transport providers with experience in SEND or social care transport.

Operators with a fleet of compliant and well-maintained WAV and non-WAV minibuses.

Providers who can demonstrate robust safeguarding, health and safety, and quality assurance processes.

Organisations capable of delivering a fully managed transport service, including operational oversight and strategic coordination.

How to Participate: Interested parties are invited to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) including:

Company profile and relevant experience.

Fleet details (vehicle types, capacities, WAV availability).

Additional Information:

We have 45 external minibuses running daily with an average of 10.62 passengers on board.

We have 7x 8-seater vehicles also running, which have an average of 5.71 passengers on board.

If all of the routes are combined, the average becomes 9.96 on 52 external routes.

to respond to the this pre market engagement. Please visit https://www.nepo.org/

where you can register and complete the pre market engagement spreadsheet