Official UK procurement notice
Public Bus Services · UK public procurement notice
Authority: Surrey County Council (Local council)·On behalf of: Brighton and Hove City Council
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionSurrey County Council is committed to sourcing sustainable, safe, secure, and reliable local bus routes that are socially necessary, as defined by the Transport Acts 1985 and 2000.
Since the deregulation of bus services in 1986, the responsibility for providing local bus services has primarily rested with the commercial sector. However, bus operators typically offer only commercially viable services. When services are deemed socially necessary by a Local Authority (LA) and require funding support, it becomes the LA's obligation to secure such services through a tendering process.
Socially necessary bus routes funded by Surrey County Council serve communities across Surrey, providing essential services that enable residents to access employment, education, essential shopping, reduce social isolation, and attend routine medical appointments.
CPV: Road transport services
How this framework works
From the published notice- Framework period
- 8 yrs from 1 Dec 2025
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Planned
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).
- “Public Bus Services” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, not a single contract.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Past planning notice
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- 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
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 10 Mar 2025, 16:55 GMT
- Last source update
- 10 Mar 2025, 16:55 GMT
- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-008611- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-04eb3bFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Appointment period ends
- —
Timeline
10 Mar 2025 → 1 Dec 2025 · 3 dates- Planning notice published10 Mar 2025, 16:55 GMT
- Market engagement20 Mar 2025, 23:59 GMT
Current Public Bus Service DPS (Dynamic Purchasing System) is due to expire on 31st January 2026.
Surrey County Council, in partnership with Brighton & Hove City Council, East Sussex County Council and West Sussex County Council, is planning to reprocure the service under new Procurement Act 2023 (PA 2023). With this in mind, we would like to invite current and potential providers to take part in our virtual market engagement session.
The purpose of this event will be to:
-Provide information on current services and share future plans
-Share a high-level indicative procurement timeline
-Guide operators to resources for understanding the requirements under PA 2023 and their implications
-Outline policy requirements during tender process (Social Value, Sustainability and Modern Slavery)
-Answer questions and gather feedback.
Registration details:
Providers wishing to attend should reply via the Proactis portal (supplierlive.proactisp2p.com/Account/Login ↗) under the project "AW SCC Public Bus Service re-procurement Market Engagement" (RFX1000725) or via email to [email protected] by 16.00 on 18th March 2025. The event will be held on 20th March 2025. This event will be delivered virtually via Microsoft Teams.
If you wish to attend, please reply by providing following information:
- Name of attendee(s)
- Job title of attendee(s)
- Organisation details, including address and contact details.
Please note that attendance will be limited to 3 attendees per organisation.
We will be providing more information, including the session agenda and meeting invites on or after 18th March 2025.
We look forward to receiving your response and hearing your thoughts and ideas at the event.
An expression of interest in attending this Market Engagement Event does not constitute a commitment to participate in any future tender process, nor does it confer any preferential status on those Providers who attend. Participation in this event will not automatically grant eligibility to engage in any subsequent procurement exercise. Any procurement resulting from this event will be publicly advertised in accordance with legal requirements, and all organisations wishing to participate will need to submit a response to the advertisement once it is published. Providers who do not attend this Market Engagement Event will still be able to apply for the procurement in the future.
- Contract starts328 days ago1 Dec 2025
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published10 Mar 2025, 16:55 GMTUK2
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
4 public bodies on the noticeOther public bodies
- Brighton and Hove City CouncilProcuring entitySupporting Surrey County Council
- East Sussex County CouncilProcuring entitySupporting Surrey County Council
- West Sussex County CouncilProcuring entitySupporting Surrey County Council
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender