Official UK procurement notice
Bus Grant Fares and Ticketing – Kids Go Free - December - First Bus
Authority: West of England Combined Authority (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThis contract supports the Kids Go Free subsidised fare initiative that allows for free travel for the under 16s, with this supplier over the Christmas period.
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedProcedure 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
- 9 Dec 2025, 13:48 GMT
- Last source update
- 9 Dec 2025, 13:59 GMT
- Authority reference
C0585- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-081061- Latest notice
- Contract award notice (UK6)
- Delivery area in notice
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05f1c8Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
- Single Suppliers Intellectual Property Exclusive Rights
- Published justification
he Procurement Act 2023 (the Act) permits direct awards to be made in certain circumstances. The relevant justification is contained in Paragraph 5 of Schedule 5 of the Act which states:
“The following conditions are met in relation to the public contract—
(a) due to a particular supplier having intellectual property rights or other exclusive rights, only that supplier can supply the goods, services or works required, and
(b) there are no reasonable alternatives to those goods, services or works. [Emphasis added]
Each of the bus operators has been awarded competitively tendered bus routes which they have exclusive rights to operate so that both limbs (a) and (b) are satisfied.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
9 Dec 2025 → 18 Dec 2025 · 2 dates- Notice published323 days ago9 Dec 2025, 13:59 GMT
- Standstill ends314 days ago18 Dec 2025, 23:59 GMT
Notice history
3 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 9 Dec 2025- Transparency notice published9 Dec 2025, 13:48 GMTUK5
- Contract award notice published9 Dec 2025, 13:59 GMTUK6
- Contract signature expected20 Dec 2025, 23:59 GMTscheduled
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| First West of England Ltd20 Dec 2025 – 4 Jan 2026 | £233,673 | 26 Nov 2025standstill to 18 Dec 2025 | Standstill |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- FIRST WEST OF ENGLAND LIMITEDAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender