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PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITY

North East Franchising Scheme Assessment Independent Audit

North East Combined Authority · Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender

Tender information last checkedLast checked 30 Sept 2026, 11:47.

Opportunity overview

This opportunity is to enter into Contract(s) for Service with Provider(s) for an Independent Auditor of the North East Combined Authority's (North East CA) Bus Franchising Scheme Assessment. On 30 July 2024 the North East Mayor Kim McGuiness and Cabinet approved a project to undertake a Franchising Scheme Assessment (FSA) and the Authority is currently preparing an assessment of the proposed bus franchising scheme in accordance with section 123B of the Transport Act 2000 as amended by the Bus Services Act 2017 (the "Act"). The FSA is delivered collaboratively with partners across the region, supported by specialist consultants, with a cabinet decision on whether to proceed to Audit expected in March 2026. As part of meeting the requirements of the Act, if a decision is made to proceed to obtaining a report from an [auditor][independent approved person], the Authority will require a suitably qualified organisation (the "Auditor") to undertake an audit of the Assessment and to provide an opinion in relation to the following areas required by section 123D of the Act: • Whether the information relied on by the Authority in considering the matters referred to in section 123B(3)(d) of the Act (the affordability of the scheme) or section 123B(3)(e) of the Act (the value for money of the proposed scheme) is of sufficient quality; • Whether the analysis of that information in the Assessment is of sufficient quality; and • Whether the Authority had due regard to the Guidance issued under section 123B of the Act in preparing the Assessment. The objective of this project is to deliver an independent audit to the North East CA of the FSA in accordance with relevant requirements of the Act.

Classification

  • CPV79212000 — Auditing services

Lots

  • Lot 1£300k · Including VAT

Documents and notices

Published notice details

Additional information from the published procurement release. Fields appear only when supplied by the source; check the original notice and tender documents before acting.

Scope, procedure and submissions

Id
OPEN20251872
Status
active
Above Threshold
Yes
Procurement Method
open
Main Procurement Category
services
How to submit
www.open-uk.org
Procurement Method Details
Open procedure

Amendments

Entry 1
Id
069125-2025
Description
Tender Value removed as not currently finalised

Legal basis

Id
2023/54
Scheme
UKPGA

Expected award period

Ends
27 Feb 2026, 23:59

Tender Period

Ends
16 Jan 2026, 12:00

Communication

Future Notice Date
5 Nov 2025, 23:59

Enquiry period

Ends
4 Dec 2025, 12:00

Special regime

lightTouch

Submission terms

Electronic Submission Policy
allowed

Languages

en

Lots and requirements

Entry 1
Id
1
Status
active

Value

Currency
GBP
Including VAT
300,000

Suitability

Sme
Yes
Vcse
Yes

Award criteria

Criteria

Criterion 1
Name
Quality
Type
quality

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
70
Weight
percentageExact
Criterion 2
Name
Price
Type
price

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
30
Weight
percentageExact

Contract period

Ends
4 Jun 2026, 23:59
Starts
4 Mar 2026, 00:00

Items and delivery

Item 1
Id
1
Related Lot
1

Delivery locations

Entry 1
Region
UKC
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom
Entry 2
Region
UKC
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom
Entry 3
Region
UKC14
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom
Entry 4
Region
UKC2
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom

Additional Classifications

Entry 1
Id
79212000
Scheme
CPV
Description
Auditing services

Published documents

Entry 1
Id
L-1
Url
www.open-uk.org
Description
www.open-uk.org Open Reference Number OPEN20251872
Document Type
biddingDocuments
Entry 2
Id
conflictOfInterest
Description
Not published
Document Type
conflictOfInterest
Entry 3
Id
079553-2025
Format
text/html
Notice Type
UK4
Description
Tender notice on Find a Tender
Document Type
tenderNotice
Published
4 Dec 2025, 08:34

Planning and budget

Documents

Entry 1
Id
069117-2025
Format
text/html
Notice Type
UK3
Description
Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender
Document Type
plannedProcurementNotice
Published
28 Oct 2025, 16:33
Entry 2
Id
069125-2025
Format
text/html
Notice Type
UK3
Description
Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender
Document Type
plannedProcurementNotice
Published
28 Oct 2025, 16:40

Buyer, suppliers and contacts

Organisation 1
Id
GB-PPON-PJMR-6594-BRGH
Name
North East Combined Authority

Roles

buyer

Address

Region
UKC22
Country
GB
Locality
Newcastle Upon Tyne
Postal Code
NE4 5BZ
Country Name
United Kingdom
Street Address
The Lumen, St James' Boulevard

Details

Classifications

Entry 1
Id
publicAuthoritySubCentralGovernment
Scheme
UK_CA_TYPE
Description
Public authority - sub-central government

Identifier

Id
PJMR-6594-BRGH
Scheme
GB-PPON

Contact

Recorded locations

  • Buyer location · Newcastle Upon Tyne · UKC22 · NE4 5BZ · United Kingdom
  • Delivery location · UKC14 · United Kingdom
  • Delivery location · UKC2 · United Kingdom
  • Delivery location · UKC · United Kingdom

Notice and amendment history

1 published notice version reviewed by ProcuraAxis.

1 VERSION
  1. ocds-h6vhtk-05d5a0-2025-12-04T08:34:15ZPlanned procurement notice on Find a Tender ·