Decision details

To seek approval to appoint a number of suppliers onto a Framework for the provision of Passenger Transport Taxi services for eligible children, young people and vulnerable adults in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) and Westminster City Council (WCC).

1.1.       It was recommended that the Cabinet Member for Family Services and Public Health and the Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Education and Community, approve the following decisions:

1.2.       The establishment of a Passenger Transport Taxi Framework, to be used by both WCC and RBKC via an Inter-Authority agreement.

1.3.       The appointment of the following suppliers, to Lot 1 - Regular and Scheduled Taxi Provision of the Passenger Transport Taxi Framework for the duration of the four-year Framework:

·         Chequers Transport Ltd

·         Green Tomato Cars Limited

·         HATS Group Ltd

·         Jimac Radio Cars Ltd

·         London Hire Community Services Ltd

·         London VIP Cars

·         Olimpicars Limited

·         One Transport Ltd

·         Westway CT Trading Ltd

1.4.       The appointment of the following suppliers, to Lot 2 - Ad-hoc Taxi Provision of the Passenger Transport Taxi Framework for the duration of the four-year Framework:

·         Chequers Transport Ltd

·         Dial-a-Cab Limited

·         Green Tomato Cars Ltd

·         HATS Group Ltd

·         Jimac Radio Cars Ltd

·         London VIP Cars

·         Olimpicars Ltd

·         One Transport Ltd

·         Q-Despatch (West) Ltd

·         Westway CT Trading Ltd

1.5.       Approval for the following selection methods for the award of call-off contracts for both Lot 1 - Regular and Scheduled Taxi Provision and Lot 2 - Ad-hoc Taxi Provision:

i.              That the ranking of taxi suppliers (as detailed in the exempt section of this report) be used to award all taxi contracts for both Lot 1 - Regular and Scheduled Taxi Provision and Lot 2 - Ad-hoc Taxi Provision according to their ranked positions, unless a mini-competition is required as outlined in the recommendation ii below.

ii.             That for out-of-Borough, longer distance, and TUPE-related contracts, and when in the Council’s interests to do so, suppliers on the relevant Lot of the Framework will be invited to participate in a mini-competition. 

iii.            That the decision to award and enter into call-off contract, valued at £100,000 and under, be delegated from the Corporate Leadership Team to the Head of Travel Care or in his/her absence the Assistant Director of Integrated Commissioning, to ensure transport is delivered to service users in a timely and efficient manner.  Should any taxi contract be valued at £100,000 or more, that this contract will be awarded by the Executive Management Team in accordance with the WCC Procurement Code.

1.6.       That approval was given for WCC to enter into an Inter-Authority agreement with RBKC to enable both Councils to call contracts off the WCC Framework, and to share taxi routes where appropriate.

1.7.       In order to aid efficient future decision-making, given the possibility of fluctuating demand, to approve the delegation to the Assistant Director for the Integrated Commissioning Directorate to review and approve all minor contract variations (up to 10% of the contract value) to ensure they are a compliant modification, whilst also ensuring that there is no disruption of service to vulnerable service users. 

Reasons for Decision

Reasons for re-procurement and establishment of Framework

1.8.       The Local Authority has a statutory duty to provide home to school transport provisions as per the Education Act 1996. Both Councils have a Travel Assistance Policy which clearly sets out these duties, together with further information via the Local Offer. The Travel Assistance policies can be found in the background papers appended to this report.

1.9.       For Adults, the Care Act 2014 stipulates a duty to Local Authorities to meet assessed needs, and while transport is not prescribed provision, it may be one way of meeting people’s assessed needs and preferences relating to their personal outcomes towards independence and engagement with the community.

1.10.    The West London Alliance (WLA) framework which service the existing taxi contracts expired in July 2016. RBKC and WCC extended current Taxi contracts under the WLA framework to July 2018, the maximum contract length possible.

1.11.   The re-procurement provides RBKC and WCC with an opportunity, through more detailed service specifications, to formalise current quality standards and to incorporate the feedback from consultation and engagement with stakeholders.

Reasons for delegated authority to call-off contracts from the Framework

1.12.   The approval of delegations to award call-off contracts under the Passenger Transport Taxi Framework, outlined in section 2 of this report, will enable the service to:

·         Align statutory passenger transport provision with the current practice of delegating authority to award care placements to the Director of Family Services based on the needs of children and young people;

·         Offer a quality passenger transport taxi service that is responsive, flexible and offers real-time provision to meet the needs of the child, young person or vulnerable adult;

·         Ensure that the volume of call-off contracts required at the beginning of the new academic year in September is provided without delay or disruption to children and young people’s needs;

·         Meet the changing demands of passenger transport on an ongoing basis in a timely and efficient manner;

·         Achieve best value for the Councils by ensuring that out of borough, longer distance and TUPE related contracts are subject to mini-competition, and;

·         Ensure that taxi contracts can be modified to support the Councils’ fluctuating demands and achieve best value for money through route optimisation whilst also ensuring consistency of service.

Reasons for Inter Authority Agreement

1.13.    The shared service re-procurement on a Bi-Borough basis between RBKC and WCC requires the development of a new Inter Authority Agreement between the two Boroughs to enable them both to operate effectively under the Framework.

1.14.    It is proposed that WCC will call-off from the Framework on behalf of itself and RBKC. The Inter-Authority Agreement will therefore sets out the contractual relationship between the two Councils including how contracts are called off the Framework; how the Councils co-operate to manage the services through the Travel Care and Support Team; WCC’s responsibilities to operate the contract on behalf of RBKC; how any defaults or performance issues by a supplier are  managed; RBKC’s obligations to co-operate and comply with the terms of the call-off; the liability between the two Councils; and how any disputes between the Councils are resolved.