Official UK procurement notice
Foundation Apprenticeship Transport · UK public procurement notice
Authority: Forth Valley College (Education)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionForth Valley College is seeking Service Providers for the provision of transport for Foundation Apprenticeship students from schools throughout the Forth Valley area.
- Recurrence: Subject to uptake of extension options and continued requirements, the re-tender documents would provisionally be planned for May 2025.
CPV: Hire of passenger transport vehicles with driver · Road transport services · Taxi services · Transport services (excl. Waste transport)
How this framework works
From the published notice- Places
- up to 6 suppliers · 8 bids received (1.3 per place) · 7 appointed (full)
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1The Service consists of the provision of transport for students attending Foundation…AwardedRenewal
The Service consists of the provision of transport for students attending Foundation Apprenticeship courses at Forth Valley College campuses in Alloa, Falkirk and Stirling.
The journeys will include transport from pupils’ schools throughout Forth Valley area to the College campuses and return to schools or students’ home, as well as various transport to work placements and back to either school or home. Multiple pickups and drop-offs will also be required.
What it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Published sub-criteria (5)
- Service Delivery: 15%
- Fair Work First: 5%
- Community Benefits: 5%
- Cost: 70%
- Sustainability and Vehicle Emissions: 5%
Published award criteria (5)
- Service Delivery: 15
- Sustainability and Vehicle Emissions: 5
- Fair Work First: 5
- Community Benefits: 5
- Cost: 70
- Suitability
Tenderers are required to have a Taxi Operators Licence or Private Hire Operators Licence or Public Service Vehicle Operators Licence as applicable.
Tenderers must confirm membership of Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme for the drivers allocated to this agreement.
- Price carries 70 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 7 points. This one is won on the number: sharpen the price before polishing the prose.
- “Foundation Apprenticeship Transport” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, up to 6 suppliers, not a single contract.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record · publisher note attached- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Framework agreement
- Who may use this agreement
- Not stated in the notice; call-off rights may be limited to the establishing authority
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
Yes · Subject to uptake of extension options and continued requirements, the re-tender documents would provisionally be planned for May 2025.
- First published
- 29 Mar 2021, 09:56 BST
- Last source update
- 10 Jul 2025, 08:57 BST
- Award evaluation window
- 8 Jun 2021 – …
- Authority reference
LQ-003-20- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-038789- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-02a020Find a Tender
- Electronic trading
- e-invoicing allowed · electronic ordering · electronic payment
Publisher note: All tenderers are required to: - Complete the SPD within PCS. - Complete and return separate SPD for any entities tenderers are relying on to meet the selection criteria. It is a requirement that bidders hold, or will commit to obtain prior to the commencement of any subsequently awarded contract, the types and levels of insurance indicated below: - Employers liability insurance GBP 5M - Public liability Insurance GBP 5M - Motor vehicle insurance - Tenderers must complete and return the following as part of the tender submission: Appendix A – Form of Tender Appendix B – Freedom of Information (if applicable) Response to Technical Questions found within Invitation to Tender. Appendix E – Commercial / Pricing Schedule SPD The Framework agreement is for an initial period of 1 year. The College reserves the right to extend the Framework Agreement for 3 further periods of 12 months subject to satisfactory performance and continued College requirements. (SC Ref:802816)
How it was run
Official noticeTender documents are also served through a separate tool: http://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk ↗
- Appointment period ends
- 8 Jun 2021, 12:00 BST
- Submission channel
- {"electronicSubmission"}
- Accepted languages
- en
- Bid validity
- 90 days from the deadline
- Bids opened
- 8 Jun 2021, 12:00 BST
Timeline
4 May 2021 → 10 Jul 2025 · 4 dates- Next notice expected4 May 2021, 00:00 BST
- Admission / appointment period endsperiod end, not a bid countdown8 Jun 2021, 12:00 BST
- Bids opened8 Jun 2021, 12:00 BST
- Notice published10 Jul 2025, 08:57 BST
Notice history
4 events · 4 releases on Find a Tender · since 7 May 2021- Status changed to active7 May 2021, 17:35 BST
- Procurement method changed7 May 2021, 17:35 BST
- Deadline published: 8 Jun 2021, 12:00 BST7 May 2021, 17:35 BST
- Status changed to complete27 Sept 2021, 15:25 BST
Routine re-releases (4)
- 2021-03: 1 release · 29 Mar 2021
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast2 suppliers are admitted to this framework without individual award values or dates, see the supplier list below.
Contracts
All 2 of these contracts carry the same published figure, £712,500, the framework's maximum for the whole notice, not each contract's own value. They are not eleven separate sums.
Contract 023965-2021-LQ-003-20-1
- Signed
- 24 Sept 2021
- Value
- ceiling above
- Status
- active
Foundation Apprenticeship Transport
- Signed
- 24 Sept 2021
- Value
- ceiling above
- Period
- 9 Aug 2021 – 8 Aug 2026
- Status
- active
- Change The framework agreement is being extended by one additional year (total of 5 years) in accordance with Regulation 34(2) of the Procurement (Scotland) Regulations 2015. This extension is justified due to the need for continuity of service for end users whilst we undertake re-tendering. The number of suppliers has been reduced from six to three due to supplier withdrawal. There is no increase in total contract value., Need for modification brought about by circumstances which a diligent contracting authority/entity could not foresee: The modification is required due to the short period between receiving confirmed student transport requirements from local authorities and the commencement of the academic term when the service must begin. These timings could not have been reasonably anticipated and did not allow sufficient time to complete a full re-tendering process.
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8bids · 8 electronic | 7 | — | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- Camelon Sheriff CourtReview body
Framework contractors & participating bidders
10 commercial parties on the notice- Hairy Haggis Tours LtdFramework contractor
- MTG Enterprises Ltd T/A Merlin TravelFramework contractor
- Merlin TravelFramework contractor
- Midland Bluebird LimitedFramework contractor
- Midland Bluebird LimitedFramework contractor
- Order of Malta Diala-a-Journey TrustFramework contractor
- Premier Executive (Scotland) Travel LimitedFramework contractor
- Roundabout Executive TravelFramework contractor
- Roundabout Executive TravelFramework contractor
- premier executive(scotland) travel limitedFramework contractor
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Economic and financial selection criteria
- Technical selection criteria