Planning

SOL30057 - Market Engagement - Taxi Services for Solihull Childrens Services

SOLIHULL METROPOLITAN BOROUGH COUNCIL

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Planning

11 Feb 2026 at 17:02

Summary of the contracting process

Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council is in the planning stage of a public procurement process for taxi services tailored for Solihull Children's Services. The project, titled "SOL30057 - Market Engagement - Taxi Services for Solihull Childrens Services," is categorised under the "Taxi Services" industry. This tender seeks to address the transportation needs of children and their families within the UKG32 region, United Kingdom. The council is conducting preliminary market engagement with plans to advance the formal tendering strategy in alignment with their practice framework, Connecting Families. Interested parties are invited to access and respond to a questionnaire on the Atamis portal by 12:00hrs on 11th March 2026, which is part of the engagement process leading to the procurement of services.

This tender offers promising business growth opportunities for providers of taxi services, particularly those specialising in regular and ad-hoc transport arrangements in educational and social settings. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSEs) are well-positioned to compete given the tender's suitability requirements. The contract period is expected to commence on 31st May 2026, running through to 31st May 2028, suggesting a long-term engagement. The involvement of qualified taxi firms, capable of supplying standard and specialised vehicles with escort services, is crucial to fulfil the council's transport needs as defined by the Children's Services department. This procurement process not only suggests potential for rigorous innovation in service delivery but also meaningful contributions towards community support and familial development through strategic mobility solutions.

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Notice Title

SOL30057 - Market Engagement - Taxi Services for Solihull Childrens Services

Notice Description

Solihull MBC is inviting interested taxi service providers to engage with this questionnaire to help us develop our future tendering strategy. Aligned with our practice framework, Connecting Families, we aim to enable families to thrive and young people to be independent. This includes supporting families to provide their own transport when this is needed. However, on the occasions when this is not possible, Children's Services shall arrange safe and appropriate transport so that children, young people and their parents / carers can be where they need to be. This can be: - Planned regular journeys for children (e.g. school, college, alternative provision) - Unplanned occasional journeys for children or relatives (e.g. contact meetings) Children's Social Work teams arrange regular journeys per term-time with half of those journeys requiring an escort, provided by the taxi firm. On occasions we may require a specialist taxi vehicle to meet needs. Except for one case, these journeys were to or from educational settings. In addition, there are ad-hoc journeys for children--and occasionally for a parent carer--which may involve travel to schools or other destinations.

Planning Information

Where competition is identified following this market engagement any dates and service requirements may be subject to change. A questionnaire is available through the Atamis portal. To register your interest and access the questionnaire, please follow this link to the Atamis portal: Atamis - https://solihull.my.site.com/s/ & Supplier_User_Guide.pdf . The project reference is SOL30057 and the closing date for submission of the completed questionnaire is: 12:00hrs 11th March 2026

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-064e5e
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/012607-2026
Current Stage
Planning
All Stages
Planning

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Not Specified
Procurement Method Details
Not specified
Tender Suitability
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

60 - Transport services (excl. Waste transport)


CPV Codes

60120000 - Taxi services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
11 Feb 20261 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
1 May 20263 months to go
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
30 May 2026 - 31 May 2028 2-3 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Planning
Lots Status
Planning
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
SOLIHULL METROPOLITAN BOROUGH COUNCIL
Contact Name
Not specified
Contact Email
procteam@solihull.gov.uk
Contact Phone
Not specified

Buyer Location

Locality
SOLIHULL
Postcode
B91 3QB
Post Town
Birmingham
Country
England

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLG West Midlands (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLG3 West Midlands
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLG32 Solihull
Delivery Location
TLG32 Solihull

Local Authority
Solihull
Electoral Ward
St Alphege
Westminster Constituency
Solihull West and Shirley

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

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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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