STRATHCLYDE PARTNERSHIP FOR TRANSPORT

TENDERING GUIDANCE NOTES

CONTENTS

PART1:General information regarding completion and return of tenders.

PART2:Information regarding documentation necessary to ensure that tenders submitted are compliant.

PART3:Additional information to assist in preparing a tender.

PART 1

GENERAL INFORMATION REGARDING COMPLETION AND RETURN OF TENDERS

(a)SUBMISSION OF TENDERS

Tenders will be accepted in

1Paper (hard) copy format OR

2Electronically via the Public Contracts Scotland Postbox relating to each advert

Your paper (hard) copy tender(s) must be returned to SPT, 131 St Vincent Street Glasgow G25JF and must arrive no later than the specified deadline. It is emphasised that this deadline will be strictly adhered to.

Electronic OR paper (hard) copy tender returns received after the due time, or not in the envelope/package with the return template affixed (template provided for paper (hard) copy returns) shall be deemed non-compliant and shall be returned unopened.

Please note that the tenderer is responsible for any postage, courier or other delivery charges associated with the paper (hard) copy return of the tender. NB Insufficient postage may result in a delay in your delivery and as indicated above, late tenders shall be deemed non-compliant.

With regard to the delivery of tender documentation etc. to SPT please note that there are parking and traffic restrictions immediately outside the front entrance to 131 St Vincent Street,Glasgow.

(b)TENDER VALIDITY ETC

Your tender must remain open for acceptance for a period of 120 days from the closing date for the return of tenders.

Please note that SPT reserves the right, in appropriate circumstances, to conduct post-tender negotiations with the leading tenderer(s). Please also note that SPT and/or the relevant Unitary Authorities reserve the right not to award any of the contracts covered by this tendering exercise. Similarly, the right is also reserved to re-advertise any of the contracts.

(c)CONTRACT AWARD/TENDER EVALUATION CRITERIA

Tenders will be evaluated on the undernoted basis:-

EITHER

(i)Lowest Price of Tender (Usually School Transport Contracts or Assisted Special Needs Contracts (ASN,s).

(ii)Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT) (usually contracts for subsidised local bus services including any contract which contains an element of a local services, e.g. a combined school/local contract).

Please refer to each individual contract specification for confirmation.

Please note that Lowest Price may be the lowest price for an individual contract or the lowest aggregate price for two or more contracts which have been tendered together as a package(s).

(d)TENDER PRICE

Prices for contracts must be tendered on the basis of the total length of the term for the contract as specified on each contract specification and not quoted on eg, a per trip, per day, per month or year basis unless the tender specification requires a price to be quoted on that basis. Tenderers will be required to adhere to any price quoted on their tender submission.

For your tender price to be considered, Section 8 of the tender document must be completed in full. Failure to adhere to this requirement will render a tender non-compliant and as such will not be considered.

(e)CONDITIONS OF CONTRACT

Unless indicated otherwise, any contract arising from this invitation to tender will be established and operated in accordance with SPT’s Edition No. 13: November 2011, Conditions of Contract for Subsidised Local Services and School Contracts and Demand Responsive Transport Services, however in respect of Vocational Services Transport Contracts, separate conditions, i.e. Edition 1: May 2008 will apply to these contracts. Should you require a copy of either document please contact the Procurement Section of the Finance Department (Tel 0141 333 3264 or 3173). Copies of the associated Procedure Notes on the vetting of drivers’/attendants’ suitability for use on mainstream school transport contracts (which were revised in February 2007) can be obtained by contacting the Bus Operations Department (Disclosure Team) of SPT (Tel: 0141 333 3106 or 3408). These are also available on the SPT website.

(f)DATA PROTECTION

SPT shall process all personal data (as defined in the Data Protection Act 1998) that it has access to in the course of this tendering exercise in accordance with the provisions and principles of the Data Protection Act 1998.

Furthermore, any and all personal data received by you as a consequence of any contract arising from this Invitation to Tender shall be processed in strict compliance with the terms of the Data Protection Act 1998 as may be amended from time to time. By accepting any such award of contract you will be confirming that you are registered with the Information Commissioner and have in place appropriate measures to ensure the security of such data.

(g)FREEDOM OF INFORMATION

Tenderers should be aware that SPT are required to comply with the terms of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004. All information submitted to SPT may need to be disclosed and/or published by SPT. If you consider that any of the information included in your Tender Submission is commercially sensitive, please identify it and explain (in broad terms) the harm that might result from disclosure and/or publication. You should be aware that even if you have indicated that information is commercially sensitive, we may require to disclose and/or publish it whether or not your tender is accepted. We may also require to disclose and/or publish details of unsuccessful tenders. Whilst information of a sensitive nature by unsuccessful tenderers will not normally be disclosed and/or published, in certain circumstances we may require to disclose and/or publish such sensitive information including where the public interest in its disclosure and/or publication requires us to do so. Further, SPT may share any information contained in a Tender with the Office of Fair Trading, any other relevant Government regulators and in any public report produced for members of SPT Partnership.

(h)TRANSFER OF UNDERTAKINGS (PROTECTION OF EMPLOYMENT) REGULATIONS TUPE

The attention of tenderers is drawn to the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006, as amended (TUPE). In some cases, where work awarded to an outside contractor is subsequently awarded to another outside contractor, such a transfer of work may constitute a “transfer of an undertaking” for the purpose of TUPE.

TUPE provides that where there is a transfer of undertakings (or possibly part of one) the new employer takes over any employment liabilities and the responsibility for the employment contracts of the employees, who then transfer on their previous terms and conditions of service.

As a successful tenderer may be a potential transferee for the purpose of TUPE, tenderers should seek legal advice as to whether TUPE will be likely to apply to the proposed contract(s), and if so, reflect the financial implications of such a transfer in their tender(s). As the awarding authority will be neither transferee or transferor for the purposes of TUPE, the application of TUPE is a matter for each tenderer to clarify with their legal advisors. If TUPE is deemed to apply then the financial implications are a matter for discussion between the prospective tenderer and the existing contractor, rather than for the awarding authority.

(i)AWARD OF CONTRACTS/NON-AWARD OF CONTRACTS

Contracts shall be formalised by SPT issuing a signed contract award letter (and duplicate) to the successful tenderer who in turn will be required to countersigned both copies and return one to SPT.

Monthly lists of contracts awarded can be viewed via the SPT website at:

then Contract awards for subsidised local services & school transport services.

Also contained within the aforementioned website location are lists of contracts for which a decision has been taken not to award. It should be noted that for contracts which require to be re-advertised, any tenders previously submitted as part of an earlier tendering exercise will no longer be valid.

(j)INFORMATION SHARING WITH THE POLICE

Please note that the information provided in your Tender may be shared with the Police for the purposes of the prevention or detection of crime and the protection of public funds.

PART 2

INFORMATION REGARDING DOCUMENTATION NECESSARY TO ENSURE THAT TENDERS SUBMITTED ARE COMPLIANT

(a)DOCUMENT CHECKLIST

Documents 1, 2, 3 and 4detailed below MUST be included in your tender returnfully completed and signed. (Documents5 and/or 6 are optional, but if submitted, they MUST be properly completed and signed to be considered compliant). Document 7 is required when the contract award criteria is MEAT (Most Economically Advantageous Tender). Usually MEAT applies when the contract is for a subsidised local bus service or the contract contains an element of a local service (e.g. a combined school/local contract). Please refer to each individual contract specification for confirmation.

For avoidance of doubt failure to fully and correctly complete, sign and return these documents (copies are NOT acceptable) will render your tender(s) non compliant. Non compliant tender(s) will not be considered.

Documentation referred to:

1Certificate of Non-Collusion.

2Certificate of Equality Policy

3 Prohibited Activities Certificate.

4A Tender Document is required for each contract you wish to bid for based on the specification.

4a For Assisted Special Needs (ASN) Contracts a Supplementary Cost Breakdown Sheet (ASN1) formmust be completed for each tender submitted.

5Tender document(s) for any options you wish to submit for consideration, (which must be clearly marked as an option to the specification), attached to an optional tender explanation sheet.

6Tender document(s) for any packages of Contracts (i.e. two or more contracts grouped together under the one, total price) you wish to submit for consideration (which must be clearly marked as a package).

7Form QBT– Information regarding the quality element of the tender (as opposed to the price element which is inserted in document 4 – the Tender Document). One form per tender is required.

(b)CERTIFICATES

For each tendering exercise, one each of documents 1, 2 and 3 is sufficient. One of each certificate is required per legal entity (ie per tenderer) per tendering exercise.

(c)OPTIONAL TENDERS (INCLUDING PACKAGE BIDS)

Where an optional tender is being submitted, this must be in addition to a tender which fully complies with the specifications and must be on a SEPARATE TENDER DOCUMENT (clearly marked as an option) with the ‘Explanation of Optional Tender’ form and any supplementary paperwork attached to the appropriate Tender Document(s). This also applies where an optional tender consists of a package of two or more contracts.

By way of clarification, in order for a package tender to be considered, there must also be submitted a single tender (which fully complies with the specifications) for EACH contract contained within the package. The package price MUST also be included on a separate tender document.

To reiterate, it is not sufficient to merely detail optional tenders (including package bids) on the ‘Optional Tender Explanation’ form. A SEPARATE TENDER DOCUMENT must also be submitted in respect of each optional tender.

Please note however that tenders which are subject to different award criteria (i.e. Lowest Price vis-à-vis Most Economically Advantageous Tender) or are contained within separate tendering exercises (i.e. different closing dates for return of tenders) CANNOT be packaged together.

It is however acceptable to submit single contract optional tenders which confirm that the price is dependent on the tenderer having been awarded another (named) contract(s) from a previous (and separately evaluated) tendering exercise.(It should be noted however that as these contracts are not part of a package bid the prices will remain independent of one another for the duration of any contracts awarded).

(d)GENERAL

NB: You do not require to return your specification sheet(s) with your tender.

Tender documents must be FULLY completed. With regard to tender price, please refer to notes headed “ (3) Additional information to assist in preparing a tender ”

Furthermore, the complete Contract Number (including any suffix or prefix) must be inserted on the front page of the tender document (e.g. Contract no. 4082J1 must not be simply written as 4082). There must be no ambiguity as to which contract is being tendered for. Failure to adhere to this may result in the tender being deemed non-compliant.

PART 3

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION TO ASSIST IN PREPARING A TENDER

(a)SERVICE SPECIFICATION

The Tender Specification details the service requirements which your tender(s) must cover. Your main tender must comply fully with the timetable described in the Tender Specification. SPT reserves the right to be supplied with detailed crew and vehicle schedules in support of this timetable.

In addition to a fully compliant main tender for the specified service you may submit optional tenders for the service(s) concerned, with reasons why the alternative should be considered by SPT.

SPT will welcome alternative proposals or suggestions and give them careful consideration. For example, should you consider that some journeys are especially costly to operate, then you may want to suggest a timetable which does not have these journeys. A different timetable could also be suggested if you think that it will give passengers a better service. SPT will also welcome proposals based on close interworking with any other public transport services sharing or connecting with any part of the route under tender.

It is stressed that no alternative proposals will be considered in the absence of a tender fully compliant with the service specified in the Tender Specification. Tenders for contracts grouped together, as a "package" will be considered, provided you are able to show that, should you gain all services tendered for in the package, you have the vehicles and resources to operate all services operated under contract for SPT. In order for a "package" to be considered, you must also submit a fully compliant tender for each service/contract forming part of the package .

If your proposed operation involves altering any service or any request to alter a service currently subsidised by SPT, or any service commercially registered, this should be made clear in your tender.

(b)VEHICLES

The Invitation To Tender may not specify types of vehicles to be used in operating the tendered services. This reflects SPT’s wish not unreasonably to preclude any proposal on grounds of vehicle type.

Any formal contract arising from this invitation to tender may specify the vehicles agreed to be used by the successful tenderer and, consequently, you should include in your tender details of all vehicles you may wish to use.

(c)TENDER PRICE

Your price must be submitted on the official Tender Document which must be fully completed. PLEASE NOTE ONLY ONE PRICE IS NOW REQUIRED TO BE GIVEN (ON BACK PAGE OF DOCUMENT). It cannot be over-emphasised that your tender price, for minimum subsidy contracts is your estimated difference between your operating running costs including profit (Box A, Section 8 of the Tender Document) and, your estimated income ie, on and off board ticket sales, zonecard payments and payments received as a result of participation in any Concessionary Travel Scheme (BoxB, Section 8 of the Tender Document). Indeed, the three component parts of “Estimated Income” must also be detailed on the Tender Document. For gross cost contracts, only the "Tender Price" Box Section 8, of the Tender Document need be completed.

For minimum subsidy contracts, the fares you charge must not exceed the SPT Maximum Permitted Fare Scale as supplied in the Tender Specification. For Gross cost contracts the fares charged shall be as specified in the Tender Specification.

Your price when appropriate should reflect your entitlement to fuel tax rebate and transitional rural bus grant, ie your estimated total fuel rebate entitlement should be deduced from your estimated fuel cost for each service under tender.

For Minimum subsidy contracts the following shall apply:

  • For a local service your tender price is A-B.
  • For a joint local/school service your tender price is A-B, but your income estimate for the carriage of scholars is zero.
  • For a school contract service only your tender price is A.
  • For a quote to carry scholars on non-subsidised registered services your tender price is C, and mileage should not be stated.
  • For a combination of school contract/carriage of scholars on non-subsidised registered services your tender price is A (for contract operation) + C.
  • For assisted special needs contracts a supplementary cost breakdown sheet (ASN1)must also be completed for each tender bid submitted.

(d)PRICE ADJUSTMENT

Unless specified otherwise, on 1st August each year for the duration of the contract, the price will be adjusted to reflect changes to both costs and the SPT Maximum Permitted Fare Scale. The method of determining any contract price adjustment is detailed in SPT’s Conditions of Contract.

(e)DURATION

Any contract arising from this invitation to tender will be established for a maximum period of 5 years. For contracts of less than 5 years subsequent extensions may be negotiated by mutual agreement.

(f)TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Unless indicated otherwise, any contract arising from this invitation to tender will be established and operated in accordance with SPT’s Conditions of Contract. Where appropriate you will be required to register with the Scottish Traffic Commissioner the appropriate Local Service, and a copy of the Local Service registration documents will require to be sent to SPT (Corporate Data).