---
title: "Provision of Local Bus Services in North East Lincolnshire"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-078b09"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-078b09"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078b09.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078b09.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Planning"
buyer: "North East Lincolnshire Council"
published: "2026-10-19"
---

# Provision of Local Bus Services in North East Lincolnshire

Buyer: North East Lincolnshire Council  
Current stage: Planning  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-078b09

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## Summary

North East Lincolnshire Borough Council intends to procure supported local bus services in North East Lincolnshire. The work is public road transport for local passengers, with an important focus on maintaining and developing integrated ticketing across services run by different operators. The council wants future arrangements to let passengers use suitable tickets across providers. The planning work is intended to shape requirements for ticket acceptance, how fare revenue is divided and settled, ticketing technology, reliance on third parties, costs, mobilisation and any interim arrangements at contract start. Services will be delivered in North East Lincolnshire. The planned contract is a single lot and is classed as services; the council has identified the work as suitable for small and medium-sized businesses.

The process is at planning: the council has stated an intention to procure, but has not issued an invitation to tender. It is carrying out preliminary market engagement to develop its procurement strategy and future service specification; engagement responses will not commit it to running a procurement or choosing a particular solution. Organisations are invited to review the engagement material and return questionnaires through the council’s procurement portal, with a planned submission date of 4 November 2026. The council expects to publish a further notice on that date. The estimated contract value is £1.9 million gross. The planned contract period runs from 30 March 2027 to 30 March 2029, with a possible extension period to 30 March 2034. One lot is planned, with renewal anticipated. No tender procedure or evaluation basis has yet been set out.

The engagement is most relevant to bus operators and ticketing providers, including smaller firms, that can help design practical multi-operator ticketing arrangements. Useful expertise includes accepting tickets across different services, allocating and settling revenue between operators, ticketing systems and technology, and managing dependencies on third parties. Suppliers able to explain implementation costs, mobilisation requirements and workable interim arrangements for the start of a service could help shape a deliverable specification. Experience of coordinating several operators and maintaining a simple passenger ticketing experience is directly relevant to the council’s stated aims. This is a preparation-stage engagement rather than a competition: organisations can contribute information to influence the council’s planning, but the council has not committed to procuring a particular model or proceeding with a tender. No specific accreditation or capacity threshold is identified at this stage.

## Notice

The principal purpose of this preliminary market engagement is to understand how integrated ticketing could be maintained and developed under a future contract for supported local bus services. The Authority wishes to explore the practical arrangements required to enable passengers to use appropriate tickets across services operated by different providers. This may include ticket acceptance, revenue apportionment, settlement arrangements, ticketing technology, third-party dependencies, costs, mobilisation timescales and any interim arrangements required from contract commencement. Responses will help the Authority develop integrated-ticketing requirements that are proportionate, deliverable and capable of supporting a straightforward passenger experience. The engagement will also inform the Authority's procurement strategy and future service specification but will not commit the Authority to undertaking a procurement exercise or adopting a particular solution.

### Planning Information

The Local Authority is inviting organisations to obtain and review preliminary market engagement documents, and submit completed questionnaires using the the Authority's procurement portal.
All documentation and information can be found at: https://yortender.eu-supply.com/login.asp?B=YORTENDER
All requests for clarification should be submitted via the above portal only and all answers will be published on the portal only.
Completed questionnaires should be submitted to the Authority using the above procurement portal only.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/098609-2026 |
| 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 |
| Awardee scale | Not specified |
| All stages | Planning |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 19 Oct 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | 4 Nov 2026 |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 30 Mar 2027 - 31 Mar 2029 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £1,900,000 |
| 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 | North East Lincolnshire Council |
| Locality | GRIMSBY |
| Postcode area | Doncaster |
| Postcode | DN31 1HU |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLE Yorkshire and The Humber |
| ITL 2 | TLE1 East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire |
| ITL 3 | TLE13 North and North East Lincolnshire |
| Local authority | North East Lincolnshire |
| Electoral ward | West Marsh |
| Westminster constituency | Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes |
| Delivery location | TLE13 North and North East Lincolnshire |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 34 - Transport equipment and auxiliary products to transportation
- 60 - Transport services (excl. Waste transport)

### Codes

- 34121100 - Public-service buses
- 60112000 - Public road transport services

## Release History

- 19 Oct 2026 at 15:36 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/098609-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/098609-2026
  19th October 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- http://www.nelincs.gov.uk/
- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents
- https://yortender.eu-supply.com/login.asp?B=YORTENDER

## 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-078b09. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078b09.json.