Open Framework for the Provision of Transportation of Children, Young People & Adults (Up to 8 Passenger seat Vehicles)

The procurement contact named on the official notice.

The Contracting Authority wishes to establish an Open Framework of Service Providers of vehicles of up to 8 passenger seats to call-off from time to time to provide services relating to the provision of an Integrated Transport Service for the Transportation of Children, Young People & Adults.

Service Providers will be required to transport Children, Young People & Adults, many of whom have Special Educational Needs (SEN), along with our assigned Passenger Assistants to and from various establishments throughout Blackpool and beyond.

The Hours of Operation for this service, under normal circumstances, are (for Lot 1) 07.30 - 10.30 and 14.00 - 17.30, Monday-Friday during the school academic year i.e. excluding school holiday periods and training days as appropriate.

This equates to approx.

39 weeks per year.

For Lots 2 & 3 while Service Providers may be expected to perform the Service at any time, it is anticipated that the service will normally be carried out between regular office hours.

For Lot 1, routes will be allocated to providers by Blackpool Council by mini-competition and will remain in place for the term specified in the Call-Off Order form, subject to demand and review.

For Lots 2 & 3, when authorised Council Officers wish to arrange transport for service users, they will contact Service Providers on the Framework, as detailed in Appendix A - Specification.

A full scope of the Contracting Authority's requirements can be found in Appendix A - Specification.

The English Devolution White Paper set out the government's vision for simpler local government structures in order to lead to better outcomes for residents, improved local accountability and savings which can then be reinvested in public services.

All councils in 2-tier areas and small neighbouring unitary authorities have been invited to develop proposals for unitary local government with the aim of bringing together lower and upper tier local government services in new unitary councils to deliver local government reorganisation.

It is likely that within the duration of this contract there may be further development of local government reorganisation that could result in the area and scope of coverage of this contract changing.

It is not clear at this stage what the reorganisation will look like.

The Contracting Authority reserve the right to modify, review or amend the contract as may become appropriate in order to effectively respond to any future requirements as a result of local government reorganisation.