Issue - meetings

Councillor Larry Culhane explained that the current Taxi Travel Care Framework was due to expire on 25 May 2021 with no option to extend, therefore a re-procurement of a taxi passenger transport service was required. The Council wanted to procure again from 2021 on a similar basis and would invest more money and provide a much better service than the framework inherited by the Tri-borough agreement, which had already been terminated.

Councillor Ben Coleman stated that he was delighted that this new framework would ensure that safe transport would be provided for some of the most vulnerable children and young people in the borough. There had been issues reported by parents about the unsafe transport of disable children to school offered by the provider. Therefore, since 2014 there was a determination to change this Tri-borough contract, which was only about transport and had nothing about caring for vulnerable young people.

Councillor Sue Macmillan, the Cabinet Member for Children and Education in 2014, endorsed Councillor Coleman’s comments and reiterated that the former contract was not suitable or appropriate for children with special needs. However, the new procurement would result in the provision of an optimum service.

AGREED UNANIMOUSLY BY CABINET:

That Cabinet approves the procurement strategy, attached as Appendix A, to run an open procedure to establish a framework for the provision of travel care taxi services for a period of 4 years from May 2021.