Find a TenderAwarded without competitionContract details notice
Published 4 Mar 2026, 16:38 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

Transport Focus Your Bus Journey Survey

Official notice

Authority: Cornwall Council (Local council)

Direct award
Sectors: Research & Development (R&D) (73) Delivery: UK
Awarded value£221,000published award · exc. VAT
Awarded 4 Mar 2026no call for competition
Awarded to Transport Focus

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The Council has awarded a contract to Transport Focus for the delivery of the Your Bus Journey (YBJ) passenger satisfaction survey for the period 2026/27 to 2028/29. Participation in the YBJ survey is now mandated by the Department for Transport (DfT) as a condition of receiving the Local Authority Bus Grant within the Consolidated Transport Funding

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published

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
4 Mar 2026, 16:38 GMT
Last source update
4 Mar 2026, 16:52 GMT
Authority reference
DN808590
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-019678
Latest notice
Contract details notice (UK7)
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06627d Find a Tender
Why no open competition
Single Suppliers Intellectual Property Exclusive Rights
Published justification

The requirements for a Direct Award under Schedule 5, Paragraph 5 of the Procurement Act 2023 are fully satisfied because: Only one supplier is objectively capable of delivering the requirement. Transport Focus is the sole organisation with lawful access to, and exclusive rights over, the historic Your Bus Journey dataset required for national benchmarking. This capability arises from legitimate exclusive control of essential data, methodology and intellectual property, all of which underpin DfT performance reporting No alternative supplier could replicate, recreate or access this dataset at proportionate cost or within a reasonable timeframe, resulting in a genuine absence of competition for technical and exclusive‑rights reasons. The authority is not artificially narrowing the requirement. The limitation arises from the market itself and from DfT funding conditions mandating participation in the Transport Focus survey. A competitive procurement would be ineffective, as any alternative supplier would be unable to submit a compliant bid capable of meeting national benchmarking and continuity requirements.

Review and risk notes
Risks

Non-participation in Your Bus Journey survey would be a breach of the funding terms and conditions for the Consolidated Transport Funding

Non-participation in Your Bus Journey survey would mean an inability to provide nationally comparable performance metrics required for the Local Transport Outcomes Framework, Bus Indicator Pilot and Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas 2 (Zebra 2) reporting.

Loss of continuity in long‑term benchmarking data if the contract is not awarded in time for March 2026 survey deadlines

Notice history

3 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 4 Mar 2026
  1. Transparency notice published
    4 Mar 2026, 16:38 GMT
    UK5
  2. Contract details notice published
    4 Mar 2026, 16:52 GMT
    UK7
  3. Contract signature expected
    5 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT
    scheduled

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast
Awards 1
Awarded value £221,0001 award exc. VAT
Contracts signed 1latest 4 Mar 2026
Awarded toValueDateStatus
Transport Focus6 Mar 2026 – 28 Feb 2029£221,000—Awarded

Contracts

  • Transport Focus Your Bus Journey Survey · Transport Focus

    Signed
    4 Mar 2026
    Value
    £221,000
    Period
    6 Mar 2026 – 28 Feb 2029
    Status
    active

    No agreed KPIs: Not required

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Cornwall Council

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PYRH-9827-DWLP County Hall, Truro, South West, TR1 3AYContact name, email, phone

Bidders & participating suppliers

1 commercial party on the notice
  • Transport FocusAwarded supplierGB-PPON: PGBR-3271-MNXJ 77 Timothys Bridge Road, Stratford-Upon-Avon, West Midlands, CV37 9BDContact email

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure

  • Contract details notice contractContract details noticeUK7Contract details notice on Find a Tender
  • Transparency notice awardTransparency noticeUK5Transparency notice on Find a Tender