Isles of Scilly Transport - Inter-Island Commuter Passenger Boat Services

Award Criteria

The Contract will be awarded to the tender offering the Most Advantageous Tender (MAT) in accordance with the published award criteria. Award Criterion Weighting Price 50% Quality 40% Social Value 10% Total 100% The Council considers that this provides an appropriate balance between affordability and the need to secure a safe, dependable and resilient essential passenger service. The Contract will be awarded to the Tenderer achieving the highest overall weighted score, subject to satisfying all mandatory requirements and minimum Quality thresholds. 14.0 Price Evaluation (50%) Price will be evaluated against the total evaluated subsidy requirement for the defined Contract requirement. Tenderers will therefore be required to provide a single total evaluated price derived from their completed Price Schedule 2, comprising the winter commuter service and the defined education extension. The Tenderers' prices will be scored on a comparative basis. This will be done by recording the lowest total price submitted by the Tenderers, dividing each of the other Tenderers' prices by this and then multiplying it by the allocated weighting. For evaluation purposes, the Council proposes to use the following formula: Price Score = (Lowest Evaluated Tender Price ÷ Tenderer's Evaluated Tender Price) x Price Marks The compliant Tenderer offering the lowest evaluated subsidy requirement will therefore receive the full 50 Price marks, with other Tenderers receiving a proportionate score. For example, if Price is weighted at 50%, the lowest compliant tender receives 50 marks. The ITT should explain exactly what constitutes the Evaluated Tender Price, including treatment of fares/revenue if operators are permitted to retain passenger income. The Council may seek clarification where a Tenderer's price appears abnormally low, contains an apparent pricing error or where the Cost Component Model does not reconcile with the submitted Tender Price.

Description

The Council of the Isles of Scilly is seeking to appoint a suitably experienced and appropriately licensed passenger boat operator to provide a reliable Inter-Island Commuter Passenger Boat Service connecting St Martin's and St Agnes with St Mary's. The service provides an essential lifeline between the islands and is required to support a range of Council-facilitated and concessionary travel requirements, particularly during the winter period when the frequency and availability of normal commercial inter-island services is reduced. The journeys supported through the service principally provide for: • Early Years transport; • Home-to-School Transport; • Children and Young People (C&YP) travel, principally to enable participation in clubs and organised activities; • Adult Social Care travel; • Discretionary Concessionary Fares supported by the Council; and • Employment-related travel, particularly for teachers and school support staff where inter-island transport is necessary to enable attendance at work. The service also provides broader community connectivity, enabling residents to access essential services and facilities on St Mary's. Other passenger journeys outside the Council-supported service requirements may continue to be provided by operators on a commercial basis. The Department for Transport (DfT) has provided short-term emergency funding to support the service during the 2026/27 winter period. This funding is intended to provide an interim solution for this winter only while the Council considers the longer-term requirements for sustainable inter-island connectivity. The Contract(s) will therefore also provide an important opportunity for the Council to gather information on passenger demand, journey patterns, service reliability, operating costs and service utilisation. This evidence will help the Council understand how the revised service is being used and inform consideration of a more permanent and sustainable solution for future years. The principal subsidised Winter Service Period is expected to run from October 2026 to 31 March 2027. From 1 April 2027, the normal commercial summer inter-island timetable is expected to resume, and the wider winter service subsidy will cease. However, the Contract will provide for a limited Academic Year Extension Period from April to July 2027, covering only the services required to support the continuation of Early Years, Home-to-School, and associated education employment travel until the end of the academic year. The journeys and service requirements applicable during this extension period are set out in Schedule 1 - Service Specification. The Council is therefore seeking a proportionate, flexible, reliable and dependable service which recognises the essential lifeline function of inter-island connectivity, the range of Council-supported passenger requirements and the particular commercial challenges associated with maintaining these connections during the winter period. The Contract is intended both to maintain these essential journeys in the short term and to provide the operational evidence required to inform the Council's approach to their longer-term provision.

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