CN250575 - Concessionary Travel Management

Kent County Council is seeking responses from the commercial market to help shape the management functions and services in relation to administering its concessionary travel schemes; the English National Concessionary scheme (ENCTS) also known as the older persons and disabled persons bus pass, and other concessionary schemes, the Kent Travel Saver and 16+ Travel saver. Kent has traditionally engaged with the market, and commissioned contracts to deliver and support our operations of managing concessionary fare schemes.

Key components provided by the commissioned supplier is to manage information obtained from bus operators to supplement forecasting concessionary passenger journeys but also includes capturing operator fare chart information and make use of the Department for Transport’s (DFT) reimbursement calculator that informs budget setting and budget monitoring procedures. Additionally, our requirements are for the commissioned supplier to provide expert analysis and interpretation of complex legislation to respond to bus operator disputes and/ or challenges regarding the administration of specific concessionary schemes such as ENCTS.

ENCTS: The ENCTS scheme is a devolved statutory scheme that is administered locally by concessionary travel authorities and local authorities. The requirement to deliver the scheme is underpinned by primary legislation within the Transport Act 1985 and within the Bus Concessionary Travel Act 2007.

The purpose of the scheme is to provide free bus travel to those who reach pensionable age, and for eligible disabled users. Should users meet the relevant entry requirements determined by the Local Authority, they will be issued with a travel pass that can be used between specified times on bus services throughout the week.

As part of the devolved responsibilities on Local Authorities, it is incumbent on them to make suitable arrangements for transport operators providing bus services to facilitate the ENCTS to be reimbursed in accordance with the formulas defined by national government. Local Authorities are required by law to reimburse bus operators for carrying concessionary passengers.

In respect of the mandatory concession, Local Authorities must reimburse bus operators for all concessionary journeys starting within their boundaries on a ‘no better and no worse off’ basis, regardless of where the concessionary passholder making the journey is resident. Typically, Kent has circa 250,000 passholders that equates to circa 11mil journeys each year.

Kent Travel Saver and 16+ Travel Saver: Kent offers concessionary travel schemes that support children and young people by providing a subsidised bus pass that can be used to enable access to their educational placement or for specific cohorts of service uses the opportunity to access work placements. The scheme requirements and definitions are determined by the Local Authority.

For the Travel Saver scheme, it will support students in year groups 7-11 (secondary school provision), Monday to Friday between 6am and 7pm. Any journeys undertaken outside of the scheme days and times are not supported under the terms of the scheme.

The 16+ Travel Saver scheme operates in a similar fashion to the Travel Saver scheme but provides unlimited travel to those young people aged between 16- 19. Each Travel Saver scheme has different contributions to be made by the service users subject to age and further concessions due to families on low-incomes or those within the care category.

Further options are available for users that wish to pay for the scheme using direct debit facilities. The Travel Saver schemes have a combined total of more than 27,000 service users.

As articulated above, Kent County Council has a large and diverse group of service users making use of the concessionary schemes and similarly engages and manages more than 40 bus operators delivering vital services around the county. To view this notice, please click here: https://www.delta-esourcing.com/delta/viewNotice.html?not...