Professional Off Road 4x4 Driver and On / Off Road Trailer Towing, Training Contract 2025

The training is required to meet EA departmental driving policies and legislative requirements including Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSAW), The Road Traffic Act 1988 and The Highway Code.

This contract will deliver training for circa 2,000 EA staff that in their operational delivery capacity require additional 4x4 driver and trailer towing training. Either because they are assessed as being high risk or they use specialist vehicles and/or tow trailers in their role.

EA employees use our fleet of 4x4 vehicles and trailers to gain access to remote locations and to move equipment, materials or livestock to locations where they carry out their work.

Examples of goods carried using trailers includes but is not limited to: -

• Small construction / maintenance equipment
• Live fish
• Water pumps
• Boats
• Loose stones

Our current training portfolio focuses on:

• Off road 4x4 driver training and assessment - Lantra accredited
• On road trailer towing and assessment– previously B+E licence training and test
• Off road trailer towing and assessment - Lantra accredited

EA are looking for supplier(s) that can provide professional off road 4x4 driving and on and off-road trailer training for geographically dispersed teams.

All training is refreshed every 5 years to ensure that employees remain confident and competent

The purpose of this Contract is to coordinate and deliver the required training, to a Professional standard, ensuring that employees are:

• Competent, safe and fully trained to a professional standard
• Trained to a consistent standard to support the flexibility we need to move resources around the country (mutual aid) for incident response.
• Confident to operate the 4x4 vehicles and tow equipment that is high value.

The successful Tenderer(s) must work with us to deliver more sustainable services under this contract. These requirements reflect the aspirations of our sustainability policy and the commitment to reach net zero.

The successful Tenderer(s) must always support the client in delivering eMission2030.

Responsibility for embedding sustainability in ways of working and delivering sustainable outcomes lies with all parties involved in this Contract.

Flexibility of the Contract:

The specification of requirements is initially for EA but allows provision for Defra Group to sign up at some point if required. EA are open to Defra should they wish to join and a need to agree a process for contract management.

Value for Money and Cost Management:

The contract will be a 5-year contract and tenders will be asked to fix their prices for the initial 3 years to create financial predictability. There will be breakpoint review meetings at the end of year 3 and year 4 – January 2029 and January 2030. At these points, the EA may decide to continue, reduce the scope or terminate the Contract.