Award

Home to School Transport - Minibuses

SWINDON BOROUGH COUNCIL

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Award

27 Aug 2025 at 12:36

Summary of the contracting process

Swindon Borough Council has completed the award of a contract for the provision of Home to School Transport services involving minibuses, spanning from 1st September 2025 to 31st August 2026. This procurement, specific to the UKK14 region in Swindon, falls under the services category of road transport. Due to urgency and necessity, the council has utilised a direct award procurement method to engage Swindon Community Action Ltd for a 12-month contract valued at £1,646,603.80. The procurement stage is complete, following previous complications with a competitive process. The award notice was published on 27th August 2025.

This contract presents a significant opportunity for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) involved in transport services, particularly those offering efficient route management and school-centric logistics solutions. Businesses that can provide reliable and flexible service are ideally suited to compete in future tenders involving public transportation services. Such opportunities allow businesses to enhance their portfolios, establish strong relationships with governmental bodies, and secure ongoing revenue streams in the public sector transport market.

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Notice Title

Home to School Transport - Minibuses

Notice Description

Home to School Transport - Minibuses for the period 1st September 2025 to 31st August 2026. Statutory service.

Procurement Information

Direct Award - Urgency This is a transparency notice to inform the market that Swindon Borough Council is directly awarding a contract to Swindon Community Action Ltd for a period of 12 months from 1st September 2025 to 31st August 2026. This direct award is made under Section 41(1)(a) and Schedule 5, Paragraph 13 and 14 (Urgency) of the Procurement Act 2023. In July 2025, Swindon Borough Council undertook a Further Competition process for the provision of Home to School Transport Minibus services via the Councils existing Dynamic Procurement System (DPS). However, the Council was unable to conclude the successful award of call off contracts due to a combination of non-compliant tenders (such as specification compliance and mobilisation date) and Best Value considerations, specifically the affordability to operate the services. The post tender clarification process relating to specification compliance, contract mobilisation and route acceptance, delayed the evaluation process. As a direct result of the failure to conclude the award of the call off contracts, the Council now has to arrange the delivery of the services that are considered strictly necessary for reasons of extreme and unavoidable urgency in time for the new school year. To minimise the number of routes to be directly awarded, existing contractual provisions for various Home to School transport contract extensions are being activated, however this leaves a total of 56 routes that need to be directly awarded for a total of PS1,646,603.80 for a 12 month period. The proposed contract award will ensure continuity of these essential statutory services.

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-058e93
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/051599-2025
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK5 - Transparency Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Direct award
Tender Suitability
SME
Awardee Scale
SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

60 - Transport services (excl. Waste transport)


CPV Codes

60100000 - Road transport services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£1,646,603 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
27 Aug 20255 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
27 Aug 20255 months ago
Contract Period
31 Aug 2025 - 31 Aug 2026 6-12 months
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Pending
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
SWINDON BOROUGH COUNCIL
Contact Name
Not specified
Contact Email
procurement@swindon.gov.uk
Contact Phone
Not specified

Buyer Location

Locality
SWINDON
Postcode
SN1 2JH
Post Town
Swindon
Country
England

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLK South West (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLK7 Gloucestershire and Wiltshire
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLK71 Swindon
Delivery Location
Not specified

Local Authority
Swindon
Electoral Ward
Eastcott
Westminster Constituency
Swindon South

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

SWINDON COMMUNITY ACTION

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

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