Taxi services

Lancashire County Council (the Authority) plan and procure Authority commissioned accessible passenger transport services for service users to and from various establishments within and outside of Lancashire. The Authority is inviting economic operators to participate in a dynamic purchasing system (DPS) for the future provision of these services.

Service users are from some of the most vulnerable groups in Lancashire and may have learning difficulties, visual impairment, and behavioural, emotional and social difficulties. Categorisations of service user include but are not limited to Special Education Needs (SEN), Adult Services, Mainstream Home to School Taxi Services, Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) and some discretionary transport. Some service users require Passenger Assistants, parents, school staff, or nurses to accompany them on journeys.

Accessible passenger transport services may be required to run on a daily, weekly, or fortnightly basis depending on service user requirements, to transport service users from within and outside of Lancashire to various sites including but not limited to: SEN schools, mainstream schools, colleges, respite care, day care, and short stay establishments.

There are approximately 1 100 contracts that are competed annually. These contracts have differing requirements relating to the type of vehicle required to fulfil the contract which may include wheelchair accessible vehicles, vehicles between 4 and 8 passenger seats, vehicles with more than 8 passenger seats, and ambulances.

The DPS will be split into the following categories:

— Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles (WAV),

— vehicles with between 4 and 8 passenger seats,

— vehicles with more than 8 passenger seats (PSV buses),

— ambulance.

These categories will be further split by geographical area (North, South and Central, East, and Out of County).

The DPS is to be open for applications to participate for a period of up to 10 years.

When requesting to participate in this DPS, economic operators will be required to go through a selection process which sets out the minimum entry standards required to join the DPS. Economic operators will be invited to select which categories and geographic areas they wish to provide services for. There is no limit on the number of categories or geographic areas that an economic operator may choose to participate in.

The estimated value of the services to be purchased for the entire duration of the DPS is purely indicative and cannot be guaranteed by the Authority.

Further information including details on how the DPS will operate, terms and conditions, specifications, pictorial user guides, the selection questionnaire required to be completed when requesting to participate in the DPS, and evaluation award criteria to be used to award contracts from the DPS can be found on the link titled provision of passenger transport services — dynamic purchasing system which can be located on the following webpage: www.lancashire.gov.uk/business/tenders-and-procurement/tenders/