- Title or Description
- Home to school transport
- FOI Number
- 2024281
- Date Received
- 05/03/2024
- Type of Request
- FOI
- Request or Question
-
1) Does the local authority operate a supplier framework (a list of accredited companies or individuals that can provide services to the local authority) for the following: a. SEN Transport
b. Home to School transport
c. Taxi Services
d. Transport for Adult Care
2) If the Council does operate a supplier framework, how many suppliers are currently listed on each framework for:
a. SEN Transport
b. Home to School
c. Taxi Services
d. Transport for Adult Care
3) How many transport routes operate currently (as of 05/02/24) for:
a. SEN Transport
b. Home to School
c. Taxi Services
d. Transport for Adult Care
4) How many transport routes operated in the 22-23 financial year for:
a. SEN Transport
b. Home to School
c. Taxi Services
d. Transport for Adult Care
5) How many transport routes operated in the 21-22 financial year for the following:
a. SEN Transport
b. Home to School
c. Taxi Services
d. Transport for Adult Care
6) In the current financial year to date, how many individuals have used each of the following transport services?
a. SEN Transport
b. Home to School
c. Taxi Services
d. Transport for Adult Care
7) In the 23-23 financial year, how many individuals used each of the following transport services over the course of the year?
a. SEN Transport
b. Home to School
c. Taxi Services
d. Transport for Adult Care
8) In the 21-22 financial year, how many individuals used each of the following transport services over the course of the year?
a. SEN Transport
b. Home to School
c. Taxi Services
d. Transport for Adult Care
9) In the current financial year (23-24) what is the council s current net spend on providing as of 05/02/24:
a. SEN Transport
b. Home to School
c. Taxi Services
d. Transport for Adult Care
10) In the 22-23 financial year, what was the council s net spend on providing:
a. SEN Transport
b. Home to School
c. Taxi Services
d. Transport for Adult Care
11) In the 21-22 financial year, what was the council s net spend on providing:
a. SEN Transport
b. Home to School
c. Taxi Services
d. Transport for Adult Care - Response
-
Procurement Response: Question 1 Scottish Borders Council does not hold a Transport Framework but currently has a Transport Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) in place for the provision of transport across four main lots (Lot 1 Taxi Vehicle up to 8 seats, Lot 2 Accessible Vehicle 1 4 seats, Lot 3 Minibuses 9 17 seats and Lot 4 - Buses 17 + seats). This DPS is used across the council for any transport provisions required and suppliers must be accredited to gain a place on the DPS.
Question 2 The current number of live suppliers on Scottish Borders Council s Transport DPS is 36 as of the 15th May 2024, due to the nature of a DPS as suppliers can be removed and apply throughout the duration of the DPS so this number may vary past this date. Passenger Transport Response:
Question 3 11 The Council has considered this part of your request and concluded that the cost of complying with it would be more than 600. Under S12 (1) of FOISA 2002 Scottish Borders Council is not obliged to comply with a request that is estimated to exceed this cost. The estimated cost of dealing with your request is detailed below: Activity Staff Hours Charge per hour Subtotal Preparation 45 15 675 Therefore, we are refusing your request. We appreciate that this will be disappointing to you, especially after the significant amount of time it has taken the Council to respond. We would be pleased to discuss whether your request could be changed, to bring down the cost of providing the information and allow us to respond. The excessive work is due to the multiple years and the FOI request which require not just the actual number of journeys taken but the actual number of individuals who used the service over multiple years. Accuracy for this information is entirely dependent on how the contract is initially set up. This is therefore not always possible to calculate as the whole journey is code to a cost centre rather than each specific individual. On trying to pull together the information the system reports identify numbers that are inconsistent with the numbers of journeys taken or the number of actual service users. I would also like to take this opportunity to advise that resources within this team played a significant part in not being able to respond within the legislative timescales. I apologise for this delay and any inconvenience this may have caused.
