PAN2061 - Vulnerable Passenger Transport Services Framework

Leicester City Council (the Council) invites Tenders for the provision of vulnerable passenger transport services. The proposed Framework Agreement will be for two years with an option to extend for a period or periods totalling no more than a further two years.

The Council procures journeys for children, young people and adult service users, as well as for Council staff using taxi providers. These journeys are commonly planned e.g. trips to and from school or unplanned e.g. one-off journeys to an appointment.

These taxi journeys supplement those provided by the Council's fleet of in-house buses. A given service user may be transported exclusively by taxi or bus or a combination of the two.

Service users using taxis require additional support or supervision which is provided through a passenger assistant, arranged by the taxi provider. Some service users using taxis have additional needs of the vehicle e.g. the size of vehicle or ramps and wheelchair accessibility.

Some service users need the driver and/or passenger assistant to have specialist training e.g. how to help someone with a medical condition such as epilepsy. The service is demand led and the volume of work may therefore increase or decrease over time. In 2018-19, approximately 200,000 journeys were commissioned.