Bus Franchising Customer Workstream Support Service - Design and Implementation
March 31, 2026 Director, Bus Franchising (Other) Key decision Approved View on council websiteThis summary is generated by AI from the council’s published record and supporting documents. Check the full council record and source link before relying on it.
Summary
The Director, Bus Franchising approved the procurement and onboarding of a delivery partner for bus franchising customer workstream support. This decision was made on 31/03/2026 and involved approving recommendations for the design and implementation of new customer services. The approval includes initiating a mini-competition to appoint a delivery partner and drawing £800k from the customer transition budget.
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Full council record
Purpose
A request for budget approval to procure and onboard a delivery partner with subject matter expertise, which is required to help with detailed service design and implementation of new customer services in Bus Franchising.
Decision
Reason for the decision is to set out the requirement for the Combined Authority to procure external professional support to deliver the customer?facing functions needed for the transition to a franchised bus network in May 2027. While earlier work defined an optimal long?term customer service model, the immediate priority is to deliver a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for day one, ensuring customers are not disadvantaged, tactical solutions support future strategic development, public commitments are upheld, and frontline staff welfare is protected.
The Bus Franchising budget was approved at the Combined Authority meeting on 22 January 2026.
To achieve this, the customer workstream seeks approval to initiate a mini?competition under the YPO 1141 framework, using the Consultancy+ route, to appoint a delivery partner for two critical phases:
- Re?baselining the customer offer to define the MVP
- Implementing the MVP ahead of day one
Approval is requested to commence this procurement immediately, drawing £800k from the £1.5m customer transition budget. A Statement of Requirements and a Procurement Strategy have been prepared to support and govern the mini?competition process.
Supporting Documents
Details
| Outcome | Recommendations Approved |
| Decision date | 31 Mar 2026 |
| Effective from | 10 Apr 2026 |
| Lead officer | Mick Bunting |
| Subject to call-in | Yes |