Agenda item

That the commencement of tendering for supported passenger transport contracts be approved.

A report was considered that sought approval to commence tendering for supported passenger transport contracts.  Cabinet approval was required prior to tendering as the contract was not on the list approved in April 2018 and exceeded £250,000 over the lifetime of the contract.

The Cabinet discussed the background to the proposed contract and noted that since First Bus withdrawal of services in January 2018, Reading Transport Ltd had provided three bus services under emergency provisions with the Council.  One of these, Route 5 between Moor Furlong and the town centre was now operating commercially from October 2018, however, the other two routes 4, evenings and 6, Sundays, were not sustainable commercially and the Cabinet was asked to procure them by means of competitive tender at an expected cost of £70,000 per annum with a contract length of 5 years.

The Cabinet discussed the proactive action that had been taken in the past year to increase the plurality of provision in bus services in Slough following the withdrawal of some First services.  It was agreed that it was important to encourage a competitive bus market in Slough to ensure services in the town were not over-reliant on a single operator.

Speaking under Rule 30, Councillor Strutton suggested that the through ticketing should be considered in the tendering process.  The Leader commented that the problems of through ticketing were largely down to the decisions that First had taken, however, they had recently requested to re-establish the Bus Partnership.  The Council had agreed and would continue to work with operators to promote integrated travel.  It was also noted that the Transport Strategy would be presented to Cabinet for approval soon.

At the conclusion of the discussion, it was agreed that tendering for the supported passenger transport contracts be approved.

Resolved –  That the commencement of tendering for supported passenger transport contracts be approved.