No contest for £4 million council contract

EXCLUSIVE by DOUGLAS SHEPHERD

A so-called transparency notice published by Scottish Borders Council today shows the local authority awarded £4 million worth of business to a local bus operator without seeking competitive tenders for the work.

According to SBC which spends around £3.5 million a year to subsidise loss-making bus routes in the Borders, only Berwick-on-Tweed based Borders Buses is able to deliver the required services on several core routes.

The VEAT (Voluntary Ex Ante Transparency) notice declares: "Scottish Borders Council intends to enter a strategic partnership arrangement for a number of key routes which mainly form the core supported bus service network across the area."

And the notice explains it is the objective of the Council to ensure that the core bus network in the Scottish Borders remains in place and provides economic growth and social inclusion. 

"The Operator and the Council shall work in partnership to ensure the services are economically sustainable, relevant to the communities they serve and be geared for growth. The core network is Services 51/52, 60, 67 and 68. The arrangement will also include service E13."

The services 'awarded' to Borders Buses are Jedburgh-Edinburgh via St Boswells, Earlston and Lauder (51/52), Galashiels to Berwick (60), Galashiels to Berwick via Kelso (67), Galashiels to Jedburgh (68) and Earlston-Galashiels (E13).

The notice makes it plain that the 'deal' with Borders Buses is a "negotiated procedure without prior publication". Justification for this selected award procedure is, says the council, on the following grounds: "The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator for the following reason: absence of competition for technical reasons."

A more detailed explanation for the fairly unusual procedure states: "It is clear from detailed market research, particularly considered alongside the geography of the Borders area that there is no commercial or other type of market operator in a position to bid for the group of services in question. 

"All other relevant factors have been considered and it is therefore considered that the proposed award of a contract to Borders Buses meets with the requirements of EU Directive 2004/18/EC, Annex B as incorporated into Scots Law by the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations."

Borders Buses, previously known as Perrymans, is owned by Craig of Campbeltown Ltd which purchased the Borders business several years ago. In 2018 Borders Buses reported annual turnover of £9.645 million (£8.056 million in 2017).

The 2018 gross profit of £1.069 million increased from £855,393 in the previous year. Company accounts show an operating profit of £317,530 for 2018 (£167,616). The firm employed 194 staff in 2018, up from 173 in 2017.

In his Review of Business, director Colin Craig reported: "The company has continued working to enhance local and long distance services and to improve fleet quality, in co-operation with local authorities and Regional Transport Partnerships whilst consolidating its core activities.

"2019 will see further significant investment in fleet and personnel and, where opportunities arise, route coverage. Continuing uncertainties over fuel prices, funding of concessionary travel and Bus Service Operators Grant schemes, along with potential cutbacks in local authority budgets are all expected to contribute to another challenging year".