Notice Information
Notice Title
North East Franchising Scheme Assessment Independent Audit
Notice Description
This opportunity is to enter into Contract(s) for Service with Provider(s) for an Independent Auditor of the North East Combined Authority's (North East CA) Bus Franchising Scheme Assessment. On 30 July 2024 the North East Mayor Kim McGuiness and Cabinet approved a project to undertake a Franchising Scheme Assessment (FSA) and the Authority is currently preparing an assessment of the proposed bus franchising scheme in accordance with section 123B of the Transport Act 2000 as amended by the Bus Services Act 2017 (the "Act"). The FSA is delivered collaboratively with partners across the region, supported by specialist consultants, with a cabinet decision on whether to proceed to Audit expected in March 2026. As part of meeting the requirements of the Act, if a decision is made to proceed to obtaining a report from an [auditor][independent approved person], the Authority will require a suitably qualified organisation (the "Auditor") to undertake an audit of the Assessment and to provide an opinion in relation to the following areas required by section 123D of the Act: * Whether the information relied on by the Authority in considering the matters referred to in section 123B(3)(d) of the Act (the affordability of the scheme) or section 123B(3)(e) of the Act (the value for money of the proposed scheme) is of sufficient quality; * Whether the analysis of that information in the Assessment is of sufficient quality; and * Whether the Authority had due regard to the Guidance issued under section 123B of the Act in preparing the Assessment. The objective of this project is to deliver an independent audit to the North East CA of the FSA in accordance with relevant requirements of the Act.
Notice Details
Publication & Lifecycle
- Open Contracting ID
- ocds-h6vhtk-05d5a0
- Publication Source
- Find A Tender Service
- Latest Notice
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/079553-2025
- Current Stage
- Tender
- All Stages
- Planning, Tender
Procurement Classification
- Notice Type
- UK4 - Tender Notice
- Procurement Type
- Standard
- Procurement Category
- Services
- Procurement Method
- Open
- Procurement Method Details
- Open procedure
- Tender Suitability
- SME, VCSE
- Awardee Scale
- Not specified
Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)
- CPV Divisions
79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security
-
- CPV Codes
79212000 - Auditing services
Notice Value(s)
- Tender Value
- £300,000 £100K-£500K
- Lots Value
- £300,000 £100K-£500K
- Awards Value
- Not specified
- Contracts Value
- Not specified
Notice Dates
- Publication Date
- 4 Dec 2025Today
- Submission Deadline
- 16 Jan 20262 months to go
- Future Notice Date
- 5 Nov 2025Expired
- Award Date
- Not specified
- Contract Period
- 4 Mar 2026 - 4 Jun 2026 1-6 months
- Recurrence
- Not specified
Notice Status
- Tender Status
- Active
- Lots Status
- Active
- Awards Status
- Not Specified
- Contracts Status
- Not Specified
Buyer & Supplier
Contracting Authority (Buyer)
- Main Buyer
- NORTH EAST COMBINED AUTHORITY
- Contact Name
- Not specified
- Contact Email
- procurement@northeast-ca.gov.uk
- Contact Phone
- Not specified
Buyer Location
- Locality
- NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE
- Postcode
- NE4 5BZ
- Post Town
- Newcastle upon Tyne
- Country
- England
-
- Major Region (ITL 1)
- TLC North East (England)
- Basic Region (ITL 2)
- TLC4 Northumberland, Durham and Tyne & Wear
- Small Region (ITL 3)
- TLC43 Tyneside
- Delivery Location
- TLC North East (England), TLC14 Durham, TLC2 Northumberland, and Tyne and Wear
-
- Local Authority
- Newcastle upon Tyne
- Electoral Ward
- Arthur's Hill
- Westminster Constituency
- Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West
Further Information
Notice Documents
-
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/079553-2025
4th December 2025 - Tender notice on Find a Tender -
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/069125-2025
28th October 2025 - Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender -
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/069117-2025
28th October 2025 - Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender -
Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)
View full OCDS Record for this contracting process
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.
{
"tag": [
"compiled"
],
"id": "ocds-h6vhtk-05d5a0-2025-12-04T08:34:15Z",
"date": "2025-12-04T08:34:15Z",
"ocid": "ocds-h6vhtk-05d5a0",
"initiationType": "tender",
"planning": {
"documents": [
{
"id": "069117-2025",
"documentType": "plannedProcurementNotice",
"noticeType": "UK3",
"description": "Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender",
"url": "https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/069117-2025",
"datePublished": "2025-10-28T16:33:01Z",
"format": "text/html"
},
{
"id": "069125-2025",
"documentType": "plannedProcurementNotice",
"noticeType": "UK3",
"description": "Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender",
"url": "https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/069125-2025",
"datePublished": "2025-10-28T16:40:53Z",
"format": "text/html"
}
]
},
"parties": [
{
"id": "GB-PPON-PJMR-6594-BRGH",
"name": "North East Combined Authority",
"identifier": {
"scheme": "GB-PPON",
"id": "PJMR-6594-BRGH"
},
"address": {
"streetAddress": "The Lumen, St James' Boulevard",
"locality": "Newcastle Upon Tyne",
"postalCode": "NE4 5BZ",
"country": "GB",
"countryName": "United Kingdom",
"region": "UKC22"
},
"contactPoint": {
"email": "procurement@northeast-ca.gov.uk"
},
"roles": [
"buyer"
],
"details": {
"classifications": [
{
"id": "publicAuthoritySubCentralGovernment",
"scheme": "UK_CA_TYPE",
"description": "Public authority - sub-central government"
}
]
}
}
],
"buyer": {
"id": "GB-PPON-PJMR-6594-BRGH",
"name": "North East Combined Authority"
},
"tender": {
"id": "OPEN20251872",
"legalBasis": {
"id": "2023/54",
"scheme": "UKPGA",
"uri": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents"
},
"title": "North East Franchising Scheme Assessment Independent Audit",
"description": "This opportunity is to enter into Contract(s) for Service with Provider(s) for an Independent Auditor of the North East Combined Authority's (North East CA) Bus Franchising Scheme Assessment. On 30 July 2024 the North East Mayor Kim McGuiness and Cabinet approved a project to undertake a Franchising Scheme Assessment (FSA) and the Authority is currently preparing an assessment of the proposed bus franchising scheme in accordance with section 123B of the Transport Act 2000 as amended by the Bus Services Act 2017 (the \"Act\"). The FSA is delivered collaboratively with partners across the region, supported by specialist consultants, with a cabinet decision on whether to proceed to Audit expected in March 2026. As part of meeting the requirements of the Act, if a decision is made to proceed to obtaining a report from an [auditor][independent approved person], the Authority will require a suitably qualified organisation (the \"Auditor\") to undertake an audit of the Assessment and to provide an opinion in relation to the following areas required by section 123D of the Act: * Whether the information relied on by the Authority in considering the matters referred to in section 123B(3)(d) of the Act (the affordability of the scheme) or section 123B(3)(e) of the Act (the value for money of the proposed scheme) is of sufficient quality; * Whether the analysis of that information in the Assessment is of sufficient quality; and * Whether the Authority had due regard to the Guidance issued under section 123B of the Act in preparing the Assessment. The objective of this project is to deliver an independent audit to the North East CA of the FSA in accordance with relevant requirements of the Act.",
"status": "active",
"items": [
{
"id": "1",
"additionalClassifications": [
{
"scheme": "CPV",
"id": "79212000",
"description": "Auditing services"
}
],
"deliveryAddresses": [
{
"region": "UKC",
"country": "GB",
"countryName": "United Kingdom"
},
{
"region": "UKC",
"country": "GB",
"countryName": "United Kingdom"
},
{
"region": "UKC14",
"country": "GB",
"countryName": "United Kingdom"
},
{
"region": "UKC2",
"country": "GB",
"countryName": "United Kingdom"
}
],
"relatedLot": "1"
}
],
"value": {
"amountGross": 300000,
"currency": "GBP"
},
"procurementMethod": "open",
"procurementMethodDetails": "Open procedure",
"mainProcurementCategory": "services",
"specialRegime": [
"lightTouch"
],
"aboveThreshold": true,
"submissionMethodDetails": "www.open-uk.org",
"submissionTerms": {
"electronicSubmissionPolicy": "allowed",
"languages": [
"en"
]
},
"tenderPeriod": {
"endDate": "2026-01-16T12:00:00Z"
},
"enquiryPeriod": {
"endDate": "2025-12-04T12:00:00Z"
},
"awardPeriod": {
"endDate": "2026-02-27T23:59:59Z"
},
"lots": [
{
"id": "1",
"status": "active",
"value": {
"amountGross": 300000,
"currency": "GBP"
},
"awardCriteria": {
"criteria": [
{
"type": "quality",
"name": "Quality",
"numbers": [
{
"number": 70,
"weight": "percentageExact"
}
]
},
{
"type": "cost",
"name": "Price",
"numbers": [
{
"number": 30,
"weight": "percentageExact"
}
]
},
{
"type": "quality",
"name": "Quality",
"numbers": [
{
"number": 70,
"weight": "percentageExact"
}
]
},
{
"type": "cost",
"name": "Price",
"numbers": [
{
"number": 30,
"weight": "percentageExact"
}
]
},
{
"type": "quality",
"name": "Quality",
"numbers": [
{
"number": 70,
"weight": "percentageExact"
}
]
},
{
"type": "price",
"name": "Price",
"numbers": [
{
"number": 30,
"weight": "percentageExact"
}
]
}
]
},
"suitability": {
"sme": true,
"vcse": true
},
"contractPeriod": {
"startDate": "2026-03-04T00:00:00Z",
"endDate": "2026-06-04T23:59:59+01:00"
}
}
],
"documents": [
{
"id": "L-1",
"documentType": "biddingDocuments",
"url": "www.open-uk.org",
"description": "www.open-uk.org Open Reference Number OPEN20251872"
},
{
"id": "conflictOfInterest",
"documentType": "conflictOfInterest",
"description": "Not published"
},
{
"id": "079553-2025",
"documentType": "tenderNotice",
"noticeType": "UK4",
"description": "Tender notice on Find a Tender",
"url": "https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/079553-2025",
"datePublished": "2025-12-04T08:34:15Z",
"format": "text/html"
}
],
"communication": {
"futureNoticeDate": "2025-11-05T23:59:59Z"
},
"amendments": [
{
"id": "069125-2025",
"description": "Tender Value removed as not currently finalised"
}
]
},
"language": "en"
}