Official UK procurement notice
Bus Grant Fares & Ticketing - Fare Offer Initiatives 2026 - First Bus
Authority: West of England Combined Authority (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThis contract will cover the Kids Go Free (Easter Holidays), Care Leavers and Youth Guarantee Fare Offer schemes with this supplier
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Awarded
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Direct award
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Notice status
- Awarded without competition
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Direct award (no call for competition)
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 2 Apr 2026, 15:18 BST
- Last source update
- 2 Apr 2026, 15:26 BST
- Authority reference
C0668- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-031042- Latest notice
- Contract award notice (UK6)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-067c13Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
- Single Suppliers Intellectual Property Exclusive Rights
- Published justification
Single supplier - intellectual property or exclusive rights
The Procurement Act 2023 (the Act) permits direct awards to be made in certain circumstances. The relevant justification is contained in Paragraph 5 of Schedule 5 of the Act which states:
"The following conditions are met in relation to the public contract-
(a) due to a particular supplier having intellectual property rights or other exclusive rights, only that supplier can supply the goods, services or works required, and
(b) there are no reasonable alternatives to those goods, services or works.
Each of the bus operators has been awarded competitively tendered bus routes which they have exclusive rights to operate so that both limbs (a) and (b) are satisfied.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
2 Apr 2026 → 15 Apr 2026 · 2 dates- Notice published205 days ago2 Apr 2026, 15:26 BST
- Standstill ends192 days ago15 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
Notice history
3 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 2 Apr 2026- Transparency notice published2 Apr 2026, 15:18 BSTUK5
- Contract award notice published2 Apr 2026, 15:26 BSTUK6
- Contract signature expected17 Apr 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| First West of England Ltd17 Apr 2026 – 30 Sept 2026 | £472,138 | 25 Mar 2026standstill to 15 Apr 2026 | Standstill |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- FIRST WEST OF ENGLAND LIMITEDAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender