SEND Home to School/College Transport.

SEND Home to School/College Transport.

The procurement covers the provision of SEN home-to-school/college and adult passenger transport services, including:

Taxi, MPV and wheelchair-accessible vehicles

Minibus and coach services

Passenger Assistants

Ad hoc and contingency provision

Pre Engagement Marketing Questionnaire for SEND Home to School/College Transport.

The Council is currently exploring options for the procurement of a new Open Framework for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) transport services, with a planned commencement date of September 2027.

The purpose of this questionnaire is to understand the capacity, capability, innovation, and views of the market to help shape the future procurement approach. We are keen to engage with a broad range of providers, including taxi operators, minibus providers, community transport organisations, and specialist transport suppliers, to ensure the framework supports the delivery of safe, reliable, high-quality, and value-for-money transport services for children and young people with SEND.

Your feedback will help the Council assess market readiness, identify opportunities to improve outcomes for service users, understand potential barriers to participation, and inform the design of the framework and future contract arrangements. Participation in this exercise is voluntary and does not commit either the Council or any provider to a future procurement process. Any information provided will be used solely to inform our planning and procurement strategy.

We welcome open and constructive feedback and appreciate your contribution in helping us develop a sustainable and effective SEND transport model that meets the needs of children, young people, families, schools, and providers.

This pre-market engagement is being carried out in accordance with the Procurement Act rules on Pre-Market Engagement (including Regulation 16).

Disclaimer

The information in this document is solely for the purposes of a soft market testing exercise, and no representation, warranty, or undertaking is given by the Council as to its accuracy or completeness, and the Council accepts no liability in relation to it.

The Council reserves the right to, at its discretion:

(a) to change this document and/or the process for the soft market testing exercise,

(b) to proceed or not with a subsequent procurement.

Any subsequent procurement will be separate. Neither participation (or otherwise) in this exercise nor any information supplied will advantage or disadvantage any person in such procurement.

No expense in responding to soft market testing will be reimbursed by the Council.

The Council will not treat as confidential any information submitted in response to the Exercise, and respondents should note that the Council is subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and may be obliged to disclose responses under that Act.

Please submit your completed questionnaire by 05th November at 5pm via the Council’s procurement portal -

The Council is using the Croydon e-Procurement Portal (https://in-tendhost.co.uk/croydontenders/) Providers should express an interest in this opportunity – and will then be able to upload their soft market testing response on the Croydon e-Procurement Portal