Find a Tender · Historical
School and Special Transport Open Framework
Historical: no longer open for bids.
01/ The notice
Key facts
- Value
- £48,000,000Estimated value stated in the notice
- Deadline (UK time)
- Fri 9 Oct 2026, 19:00 BSTClosed.
- Published
- 5 Oct 2026
- Region
- Not stated
02/ The brief
What the notice says
Not fully read: this is the notice text; attached documents are not read.
Bedford Borough Council has a statutory duty to provide free home to school travel for compulsory school-aged children who meet nationally prescribed eligibility criteria and for post-16 students who meet locally determined criteria. To fulfil this duty, the Council commissions transport services from external providers using a range of vehicle types to meet the diverse needs of routes and individual passengers. In addition, the School and Specialist Transport Team arranges transport for a range of Adult and Children's Social Care requirements, including contact sessions, day services, and respite provision. To support the efficient and compliant procurement of these services, the Council is establishing a new Open Framework to replace the existing Passenger Transport Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS).
The procurement process will be conducted electronically through the ADAM eProcurement System, with approved providers being eligible to participate in future call-off opportunities under the Open Framework.
The Open Framework will be divided into 6 Lots:
Lot 1 Passenger transport services using vehicles with capacity for 1-3 passengers
Lot 2 Passenger transport services using vehicles with capacity for 4-8 passengers
Lot 3 Passenger transport services using vehicles with capacity for 9-16 passengers
Lot 4 Passenger transport services using vehicles with capacity for 17-33 passengers
Lot 5 Passenger transport services using vehicles with capacity for 49 or more passengers
Lot 6 Medical Transport Services
03/ Classification
CPV codes
Common Procurement Vocabulary codes, exactly as the notice lists them. No descriptions are added here.
- 34110000
- 60112000
- 60120000
- 60130000
- 60140000
- 60170000
04/ History
Releases of this notice
4 releases held, oldest first. Dates are UK time.
- 21 Aug 2026Planning notice
Planning notice published 21 August 2026.
Release 079984-2026
View this release on Find a Tender (opens in a new tab) - 28 Aug 2026Planning notice update
Planning notice update published 28 August 2026. Stated change: This notice has been amended to include clarifications and responses to queries received from interested providers following publication of the original notice. The additional information is provided to ensure transparency and equal access to information for all potential applicants. No other substantive changes have been made unless otherwise stated within this amendment. Please see below the Q&A: 1. How can we participate in the preliminary market engagement process. The published UK2 Preliminary Market Engagement Notice constitutes the Council's market engagement activity. Interested suppliers may participate by reviewing the information provided in this notice and submitting any comments or clarification questions via email to ian.fraser@bedford.gov.uk by the engagement deadline of 27 August 2026. No further market engagement events are planned. Participation is voluntary and is not a requirement for participation in the subsequent procurement process. 2. Whether there is a supplier questionnaire, expression of interest form or supplier engagement event that we should complete or attend. No. However, your expression of interest has been noted, and you will receive a confirmation email once the tender has been published and is live. 3. When the formal procurement for the School and Special Transport Open Framework is expected to be published. As per the notice beginning of September 2026. 4. Which procurement portal will be used for the formal tender. As per the notice ADAM platform. 5. Whether suppliers who express an interest at this stage will be notified once the framework opens for applications. Yes. All suppliers who register their interest during this stage will be notified by email when the framework opens for applications and the tender notice is published. 6. Whether there are any specific licensing, vehicle, driver, passenger assistant, DBS, safeguarding or training requirements that prospective suppliers should begin preparing for in advance. Licensin
Release 082023-2026
View this release on Find a Tender (opens in a new tab) - 9 Sep 2026Tender notice
Tender notice published 9 September 2026. The notice text changed; the source gives no change note.
Deadline in this release: Mon 5 Oct 2026, 13:00 BST.
Release 085188-2026
View this release on Find a Tender (opens in a new tab) - 5 Oct 2026Tender notice update
Tender notice update published 5 October 2026. Stated change: The tender submission deadline has been changed to 9 October 2026 at 7pm.
Deadline in this release: Fri 9 Oct 2026, 19:00 BST.
Release 093589-2026
View this release on Find a Tender (opens in a new tab)
05/ Limits
What the source does not tell us
- None recorded for the fields above. Attached documents are not read, so this is not a full account of the tender.
06/ Questions
About this notice
07/ Related
Where to go next
These links follow a fixed rule applied to this notice’s buyer, text and CPV codes. They are not advice on whether to bid.
- Reference
- ocds-h6vhtk-06e9b8
- Source
- Find a Tender
- Stage
- tender · Open
- Framework
- Yes, as recorded by the source
- Last verified
- Mon 12 Oct 2026, 08:14 BST
- Read at
- Sun 18 Oct 2026, 13:44 BST
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