--- title: "CN270830 - Concessionary Cards and Associated Services Contract" ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-078cfa" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-078cfa" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078cfa.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078cfa.json" source: "Find A Tender Service" current_stage: "Planning" buyer: "Kent County Council" published: "2026-10-21" --- # CN270830 - Concessionary Cards and Associated Services Contract Buyer: Kent County Council Current stage: Planning OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-078cfa [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-078cfa) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078cfa.json) ## Summary Kent County Council plans to procure concessionary travel card and associated services for Kent. The work covers producing personalised, data-encoded smart bus passes for the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) and Kent Travel Saver, as well as non-smart passes for children entitled to free school transport. It also includes customer application and self-service portals, staff systems to manage schemes and customer records, and administration of ENCTS applications, enquiries and complaints. Smartcard services include handling journey data from operators’ ticket machines and sending updates to machines and cards, including blocking cancelled passes. Passes are sent to passengers’ homes, schools or other relevant addresses. The services are for Kent County Council’s travel schemes and are delivered in Kent. This is at the planning stage: Kent County Council has stated its intention to procure, but has not yet invited tenders. The council plans to conduct preliminary market engagement, with an engagement milestone expected by 27 November 2026, and anticipates publishing a future notice by 22 February 2027. The expected contract period is 1 February 2029 to 31 January 2033, with an extension option that could run to 31 January 2035. The estimated value is £1.8 million excluding VAT (£2.16 million including VAT). The procurement is planned as one lot. The procedure and evaluation criteria have not yet been set out in the planning information. The requirement is likely to suit suppliers able to combine secure, high-volume card production with digital platforms and ongoing customer and scheme administration. Relevant capability includes producing and personalising smartcards to ITSO standards, managing non-smart travel passes, and supporting annual renewals, replacements and new applications. Suppliers should be able to provide reliable customer-facing portals and secure systems that let authorised staff maintain customer records and pass status. Experience handling eligibility checks and supporting evidence, customer enquiries and complaints, and smartcard operations would be relevant. The service also calls for integration with transport operators’ ticket machines, including collecting and exporting journey data and sending messages or cancellation hot-lists to cards and machines. Suppliers able to manage these connected services at substantial operational scale are well placed to prepare for the procurement. ## Notice Kent County Council is seeking to appoint a supplier to deliver it's Concessionary Cards and Associated Services contract, which includes elements such as: 1. Smart Card Production for Kent Concessionary Travel Schemes Production of smart, data-encoded bus passes with relevant personalisation and adherence to scheme requirements and national ITSO standards. Approximately 250,000 ENCTS passes are renewed every five years, in addition to new applications and replacements, and are distributed to home addresses. Approximately 27,000 Kent Travel Saver passes are renewed each summer and distributed to schools. 2. Entitled Scholar Pass Production Production of non-smart bus passes for children entitled to free school transport. Around 5,000 passes are reprinted annually, plus in-year replacements, and are sent to schools and home addresses. 3. Application Portals Provision of customer-facing application and self-service platforms for ENCTS and Kent Travel Saver, meeting relevant national and KCC IT and data security standards. 4. Customer Management Systems Scheme and customer management systems for ENCTS and Kent Travel Saver, enabling authorised staff to manage and update customer records and status, and to cancel and reorder passes. 5. ENCTS Administration Management of customer enquiries and complaints relating to applications and passes; processing new and renewed ENCTS applications submitted online or by post; and assessment of applications and supporting evidence against national eligibility criteria and guidance. 6. HOPS Smartcard management for Kent Travel Saver and ENCTS, including capture, recording and export of journey data from operator ticket machines and the sending of messages to ticket machines and smartcards, including hot-listing cancelled passes. For more information about this opportunity, please visit the eSourcing portal at: https://www.kentbusinessportal.org.uk/tenders/UK-UK-Maidstone:-Transport-systems-consultancy-services./2K5525W85D To respond to this opportunity, please click here: https://www.kentbusinessportal.org.uk/respond/2K5525W85D ### Planning Information Kent County Council is seeking to appoint a supplier to deliver it's Concessionary Cards and Associated Services contract, which includes elements such as: 1. Smart Card Production for Kent Concessionary Travel Schemes Production of smart, data-encoded bus passes with relevant personalisation and adherence to scheme requirements and national ITSO standards. Approximately 250,000 ENCTS passes are renewed every five years, in addition to new applications and replacements, and are distributed to home addresses. Approximately 27,000 Kent Travel Saver passes are renewed each summer and distributed to schools. 2. Entitled Scholar Pass Production Production of non-smart bus passes for children entitled to free school transport. Around 5,000 passes are reprinted annually, plus in-year replacements, and are sent to schools and home addresses. 3. Application Portals Provision of customer-facing application and self-service platforms for ENCTS and Kent Travel Saver, meeting relevant national and KCC IT and data security standards. 4. Customer Management Systems Scheme and customer management systems for ENCTS and Kent Travel Saver, enabling authorised staff to manage and update customer records and status, and to cancel and reorder passes. 5. ENCTS Administration Management of customer enquiries and complaints relating to applications and passes; processing new and renewed ENCTS applications submitted online or by post; and assessment of applications and supporting evidence against national eligibility criteria and guidance. 6. HOPS Smartcard management for Kent Travel Saver and ENCTS, including capture, recording and export of journey data from operator ticket machines and the sending of messages to ticket machines and smartcards, including hot-listing cancelled passes. ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Find A Tender Service | | Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/099538-2026 | | Notice type | UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice | | Procurement type | Standard | | Procurement category | Services | | Procurement method | Not Specified | | Procurement method details | Not specified | | Tender suitability | Not specified | | Awardee scale | Not specified | | All stages | Planning | ## Dates | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication date | 21 Oct 2026 | | Submission deadline | Not specified | | Future notice date | 22 Feb 2027 | | Award date | Not specified | | Contract period | 1 Feb 2029 - 31 Jan 2033 | | Recurrence | Not specified | ## Values | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender value | £1,800,000 | | 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 | Kent County Council | | Locality | MAIDSTONE | | Postcode area | Rochester | | Postcode | ME14 1XQ | | Country | England | | ITL 1 | TLJ South East (England) | | ITL 2 | TLJ4 Kent | | ITL 3 | TLJ45 Mid Kent | | Local authority | Maidstone | | Electoral ward | Penenden Heath | | Westminster constituency | Maidstone and Malling | | Delivery location | TLJ4 Kent | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 71 - Architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services ### Codes - 71311200 - Transport systems consultancy services ## Release History - 21 Oct 2026 at 14:22 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/099538-2026 ## Documents - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/099538-2026 21st October 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender ## Notice URLs - https://www.kentbusinessportal.org.uk/respond/2K5525W85D - https://www.kentbusinessportal.org.uk/tenders/UK-UK-Maidstone:-Transport-systems-consultancy-services./2K5525W85D - 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-078cfa. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078cfa.json.