Decision details

Reason for the decision

- The current contractual agreement for concessionary travel cards is due to expire on 31st March 2027 and the extension period for the contract must be triggered by 20th March 2026. There are no alternative frameworks currently available for these services and insufficient time for a full procurement. Without the extension KCC’s will be unable to deliver statutory concessionary travel services to approximately 280,000 users county wide.

Background – Provide brief additional context

- Kent County Council (KCC) in its role as a Travel Coordinating Scheme Authority delivers three concessionary travel schemes, the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS), the KCC Travel Saver (TS) and the KCC 16+ Travel Saver (16+TS).

- Delivery of these schemes relies on specialist services for card production and recording of trips to calculate reimbursements to operators. The current provider is Euclid Ltd procured through a PCR 2015-compliant Framework (using a direct award to the supplier; contract Reference SC21087). This agreement expires on 31st March 2027 and cannot be extended.

- In addition, from early 2025 Public Transport became aware that the processing of applications for the ENCTS scheme, which is currently undertaken by Agilisys, would fall outside of the scope of the new Contact Centre arrangement and would need to be managed elsewhere. This is not a task which can be bought fully “in house” (to Public Transport) and would be a natural extension of the work undertaken by Euclid given that this is a function that they fulfil for other Local Authorities. It is therefore proposed to include this within the scope of the extended Concessionary Travel Cards Service.

- Due to daily operational demand s for new or replacement passes and the statutory nature of ENTCS, any delay or gap in contracted provision is not viable and has significant reputational risk.

Options (other options considered but discarded)

- Procure a new contract under Procurement Act 2023
- Use of existing framework
- Use of other frameworks
- Delivering these functions in house


How the proposed decision supports the Council’s Strategic Statement

- Levelling Up Kent - Inclusive transport across all divisions

- Sustainability – reducing the number of vehicles used in the transport of children and adults to reduce emissions.

- Congestion – reducing the number of vehicle numbers to ease congestion on Kent roads.

- Communities – supporting them to grow by ensuring access to work, education and local amenities.