Kent County Council: Concessionary Travel Management

Contracting authority

Contracting authority:

Kent County Council

Public Procurement Organisation Number:

PLDL-8938-YGYW

Address:

Sessions House, County Hall
Maidstone
ME14 1XQ
UK

Contact name:

Not provided

Email:

cameron.croucher@kent.gov.uk

Telephone:

Not provided

Website:

https://www.kent.gov.uk/

Organisation type:

REGIONAL_AUTHORITY

Devolved regulations that apply:

None

Procedure

Procedure type:

Competitive flexible procedure

Dynamic market OCID:

Not provided

Competitive flexible procedure description:

The procurement steps that shall be followed will be Participation Stage, Initial Tender Stage (ITT), Negotiation Stage, Invitation to Submit Final Tender Stage (ISFT) and Contract Award Stage.

Preliminary market engagement conducted:

Yes

Dynamic market:

No

Tenders received:

0

Tenders assessed:

0

Tenders from SMEs:

0

Tenders from VCSEs:

0

Special regime:

None

Scope

Title:

Concessionary Travel Management

Reference number:

CN250575

Main procurement category:

SERVICES

Description:

Kent County Council are seeking to appoint a supplier for the management and administration of its concessionary travel schemes which include the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS), the Kent Travel Saver and the 16+ Kent Travel Saver.

This requirement is for the technical administration and associated financial forecasting activities for statutory and discretionary Concessionary Travel Schemes within the Growth, Environment and Transport Directorate and the provision of associated consultancy services.

The Council has a statutory duty under The Transport Act (2000), as amended by the Travel Concessions (Eligibility) Act (2007), to provide a concessionary bus pass scheme for qualifying individuals. This is the England National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS).

The ENCTS scheme for Kent involves the management of a scheme, covering circa 240,000 passes and 17 million annual trips based upon data from 2024/25. The budget for ENCTS is circa £18 million per annum.

The Kent Travel Saver provides discounted travel for students in the year groups 7 to 11, who are not entitled to statutory home to school transport. The scheme encompasses 22,000 2 passes, with a gross annual cost of £14.7 million, net of £5.1 million to the Council due to pass fee income and contributions from Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) funding.

The 16+ Travel Saver provides discounted travel for those eligible who are staying on sixth form, attending further education college, work, learning providers or apprenticeship provider. The scheme is administered by the Council in conjunction with educational establishments, who are provided with funding from national government to provide bursaries for those on low incomes.

The supplier will be required to:
• Provide technical advice on scheme compatibility with statutory regulations;
• Provide forecasted pass use, trips and costs for the scheme year ahead;
• Publish scheme details in line with statutory requirements;
• Collect data from operators directly, analyse data to identify use and calculate re-imbursement;
• Advise the authority on re-imbursement, interim payments and reconciliations;
• Respond to enquiries from bus operators
• Respond to the DfT in relation to regular or ad hoc enquiries on behalf of the Council
• Provide technical support to the Authority in negotiations with Operators; and
• Ensure the accuracy and quality of usage data. The Supplier will be expected to support the Council in the development of the KTS scheme and the 16+ Travel Saver Scheme

As part of the Invitation to Tender (ITT) stage of this opportunity, all interested organisations should use the following access code (4F7A4392DS) to view the tender documents for this procurement and submit your response, via the Kent Business Portal (https://www.kentbusinessportal.org.uk/).
To view this notice, please click here:
https://www.kentbusinessportal.org.uk/delta/viewNotice.html?noticeId=1035506307

Total value (estimated):

GBP 780,000 excluding VAT

GBP 936,000 including VAT

Description

Description:

Not provided

Suitable for SMEs:

Yes

Suitable for VCSEs:

No

Contract dates (estimated):

01/10/2026 to 30/09/2030

CPV classifications:

71311200 - Transport systems consultancy services.

71621000 - Technical analysis or consultancy services.

Contract can be extended:

Yes

Extension date:

30/09/2032

Delivery regions:

UKJ4 - Kent

Award criteria:

Name: Price / Weighting: 100

Documents

Associated tender documents:

Not provided

Technical specifications:

Not provided

Submission

Enquiry deadline:

28/05/2026 Time: 12:00

Tender submission deadline:

05/06/2026 Time: 12:00

Submission address and any special instructions:

https://www.kentbusinessportal.org.uk/

An electronic auction will be used:

No

Languages that may be used for submission:

English

Award decision date (estimated):

03/08/2026

Other information

Legal and financial capacity conditions of participation:

Not provided

Technical ability conditions of participation:

Not provided

Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP):

Not provided

Government Procurement Agreement (GPA):

Not provided

A conflicts assessment has been prepared and revised:

Yes

Other organisations