Provision of Vehicles and Vehicle Maintenance Services - Soft Market Test

West Lancashire Borough Council is keen to explore options for the future provision and maintenance of the Council's vehicle fleet (currently 58 vehicles including a number of refuse collection vehicles). The Council requires a professionally operated service that can provide an excellent vehicle management service.

The Council provides a wide range of frontline services including street cleansing, grounds maintenance, the collection of refuse and recycling material. In continuing to provide these services in an efficient, effective manner a competent vehicle management service is essential.

The Council plans to conduct a procurement exercise to appoint a contractor to provide vehicles and deliver the maintenance work associated to those vehicles from September 2020. The proposed contract period is five years plus up to three additional years.

The works involved will cover both planned and also responsive repairs. The purpose of this Soft Market Test exercise is to allow interested organisations with appropriate experience to outline their views and provide information by completing a short questionnaire, with no commitment to themselves or to the Council. The Council will use this feedback to inform the development of the tender specification, gauge the level of interest from the market to establish that there are sufficient potential partners to ensure that a genuine competition is likely within a future procurement process, and to ensure that the proposed procurement programme is viable.