--- title: "003415 - Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) for Digital Bus Passes (Home to School Transport)" ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-06966d" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06966d" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06966d.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06966d.json" source: "Find A Tender Service" current_stage: "Planning" buyer: "DURHAM COUNTY COUNCIL" published: "2026-05-12" --- # 003415 - Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) for Digital Bus Passes (Home to School Transport) Buyer: DURHAM COUNTY COUNCIL Current stage: Planning OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-06966d [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06966d) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06966d.json) ## Summary Durham County Council is planning a public procurement process to explore digital alternatives for their Home to School Transport bus passes, currently involving physical passes issued for around 7,000 students. This preliminary market engagement (PME) phase aims to reduce costs, enhance efficiency, and strengthen fraud controls through a digital solution. Interested providers can engage with this opportunity by accessing the relevant questions and submitting responses by Friday, 29th May 2026, at 12 noon. The procurement stage is currently in planning, with contracts expected to be effective from 1st September 2026 through 31st August 2030. The main industry category for this opportunity is goods, specifically industry-specific software packages. The process encourages bids from firms offering digital solutions that can interface with other systems and manage pass lifecycle comprehensively. This tender represents a significant opportunity for businesses in the digital and software development sectors, particularly those experienced in creating verification systems, fraud prevention, and mobile applications. Companies that can provide hybrid digital/physical options and display a capacity for policy-driven business rules will be well-positioned to benefit from this contract. By participating in preliminary market engagement, organisations can directly influence the scope and requirements of the future formal tender, paving the way for potential long-term partnerships with a prominent local government authority in the UK. ## Notice Durham County Council (DCC) are looking to explore a digital alternative to physical Home to School Transport bus passes to reduce costs, improve efficiency, strengthen fraud controls, and enhance user experience. The Council currently issues 7,000 physical passes involving manual processing, printing, and posting. This creates delays, requires high admin effort, and offers limited real-time visibility over eligibility, pass status, and usage. We are engaging the market to understand available digital solutions, technologies, and indicative costs to inform a future business case. Scope * Digital bus passes via mobile devices. * Verification (visual/scannable) including offline options. * Real-time activation/deactivation. * Technical capability to interface with other digital systems eg. Flexiroute. * Fraud-prevention features. * Hybrid digital/physical options for users who are digitally excluded. * Pass lifecycle management, including issuing, suspension, reinstatement, replacement, expiry, and renewal where applicable. * Support for policy-driven business rules (e.g. eligibility changes or temporary entitlement). This notice forms part of our preliminary market engagement, offering you the opportunity to share feedback and comments before the opportunity is released for formal tender submissions. Interested providers can access the written response questions, free of charge, by registering on the Open Portal at www.open-uk.org The deadline for completed responses is Friday 29th May 2026 at 12 noon. ### Planning Information Interested providers can access the written response questions, free of charge, by registering on the Open Portal at www.open-uk.org The deadline for completed responses is Friday 29th May 2026 at 12 noon. ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Find A Tender Service | | Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/043344-2026 | | Notice type | UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice | | Procurement type | Standard | | Procurement category | Goods | | Procurement method | Not Specified | | Procurement method details | Not specified | | Tender suitability | Not specified | | Awardee scale | Not specified | | All stages | Planning | ## Dates | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication date | 12 May 2026 | | Submission deadline | Not specified | | Future notice date | 29 May 2026 | | Award date | Not specified | | Contract period | 31 Aug 2026 - 31 Aug 2030 | | Recurrence | Not specified | ## Values | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender value | Not specified | | Lots value | Not specified | | Awards value | Not specified | | Contracts value | Not specified | ## Status | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender status | Planning | | Lots status | Planning | | Awards status | Not specified | | Contracts status | Not specified | ## Buyer | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Main buyer | DURHAM COUNTY COUNCIL | | Locality | DURHAM | | Post town | Durham | | Postcode | DH1 5WB | | Country | England | | ITL 1 | TLC North East (England) | | ITL 2 | TLC4 Northumberland, Durham and Tyne & Wear | | ITL 3 | TLC41 Durham | | Local authority | County Durham | | Electoral ward | Framwellgate and Newton Hall | | Westminster constituency | City of Durham | | Delivery location | TLC14 Durham | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 48 - Software package and information systems ### Codes - 48100000 - Industry specific software package ## Release History - 12 May 2026 at 09:34 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/043344-2026 ## Documents - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/043344-2026 12th May 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender ## Notice URLs - http://www.durham.gov.uk/ - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents ## Provenance This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06966d. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06966d.json.