Award

Transport Focus Your Bus Journey Survey

CORNWALL COUNCIL

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

Award

04 Mar 2026 at 16:52

Award

04 Mar 2026 at 16:38

Summary of the contracting process

Cornwall Council has concluded a procurement process for the "Transport Focus Your Bus Journey Survey," aimed at delivering a comprehensive passenger satisfaction survey from 2026 to 2029. Transport Focus has been awarded the contract, given their unique capability to access exclusive historical data required for national benchmarking. This procurement falls under the direct award category, justified by the singular ability of Transport Focus to fulfil the Department for Transport's requirements, ensuring compliance with funding conditions. The contract was signed on 4 March 2026, to commence on 6 March 2026, covering services across the United Kingdom, and is valued at £221,000. This follows the completion of a direct award process, citing intellectual property and exclusive rights as the procurement rationale.

Businesses within the research and development consultancy sector can gain insights into Cornwall Council's procurement approach, recognising opportunities for collaboration and data-oriented services that meet government benchmarks. While the contract is uniquely suited to Transport Focus due to exclusive rights, firms interested in similar opportunities can focus on developing proprietary datasets or methodologies that could be integral to government transactions. This contract underlines the importance of possessing exclusive intellectual property or unique capabilities as a potential route for securing public sector engagements in areas requiring specialised data handling and performance reporting.

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How relevant is this notice?

Notice Title

Transport Focus Your Bus Journey Survey

Notice Description

The Council has awarded a contract to Transport Focus for the delivery of the Your Bus Journey (YBJ) passenger satisfaction survey for the period 2026/27 to 2028/29. Participation in the YBJ survey is now mandated by the Department for Transport (DfT) as a condition of receiving the Local Authority Bus Grant within the Consolidated Transport Funding

Procurement Information

The requirements for a Direct Award under Schedule 5, Paragraph 5 of the Procurement Act 2023 are fully satisfied because: Only one supplier is objectively capable of delivering the requirement. Transport Focus is the sole organisation with lawful access to, and exclusive rights over, the historic Your Bus Journey dataset required for national benchmarking. This capability arises from legitimate exclusive control of essential data, methodology and intellectual property, all of which underpin DfT performance reporting No alternative supplier could replicate, recreate or access this dataset at proportionate cost or within a reasonable timeframe, resulting in a genuine absence of competition for technical and exclusive-rights reasons. The authority is not artificially narrowing the requirement. The limitation arises from the market itself and from DfT funding conditions mandating participation in the Transport Focus survey. A competitive procurement would be ineffective, as any alternative supplier would be unable to submit a compliant bid capable of meeting national benchmarking and continuity requirements.

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06627d
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/019678-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Direct award
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

73 - Research and development services and related consultancy services


CPV Codes

73200000 - Research and development consultancy services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£221,000 £100K-£500K
Contracts Value
£221,000 £100K-£500K

Notice Dates

Publication Date
4 Mar 20261 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
4 Mar 20261 weeks ago
Contract Period
6 Mar 2026 - 28 Feb 2029 2-3 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Active

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
CORNWALL COUNCIL
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
TRURO
Postcode
TR1 3AY
Post Town
Truro
Country
England

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLK South West (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLK3 Cornwall and Isles of Scilly
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLK30 Cornwall and Isles of Scilly
Delivery Location
Not specified

Local Authority
Cornwall
Electoral Ward
Truro Boscawen & Redannick
Westminster Constituency
Truro and Falmouth

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

TRANSPORT FOCUS

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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