Bus Grant Fares and Ticketing – Kids Go Free - First Bus

The 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.