Community Minibus Fund
Round Two
Moving Britain Ahead
Guidance for applicants
The Government recognises that passenger transport is fundamental to the
sustainability and independence of communities, particularly in isolated areas
because it provides people with access to public services, employment, education
and training. Commercial operators often struggle to run passenger transport
services in communities where demand is thin or diffuse. Community transport can
play an important role in providing services in these circumstances.
The Department for Transport’s Community Minibus Fund Round Two will enhance
the capacity of organisations providing accessible and inclusive community transport
in England.
The Community Transport Association (CTA) is the national membership association
for providers of community transport across the UK. These are typically charities
and community groups, but can include anyone providing transport on a not-for-profit
basis.
We are for, and about, accessible and inclusive transport.
Our vision is of a world where people can shape and create their own accessible and
inclusive transport solutions so everything else in life can be accessible and inclusive
too.
We are delighted to have the opportunity to administer the Community Minibus Fund
Round Two.
If you require additional support in completing your application you can contact CTA
at [email protected]. If you have any general enquiries on the fund you can
contact us at:
Community Transport Association
Aeroworks
5 Adair Street
Manchester
M1 2NQ
Phone: 0161 351 1475
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.ctauk.org/
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Contents
Purpose
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1. Introduction
4
Background
4
2. Scope of the Second Round
4
General
4
Vehicle Specification
5
Bidding and Assessment
6
Bid Assistance
6
Scoring
6
Submitting a Bid
8
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Purpose
The overall aim of the Community Minibus Fund is to provide community transport
organisations and providers with new minibuses to help them to continue to provide
accessible and inclusive transport to their communities. The total value of the fund is
£25 million with £2 million available for this round of funding.
Please note organisations that received an award from the first round of the
Community Minibus Fund will not be eligible for the second round.
This round of funding will broadly follow the two-phase structure of the first round:
Phase 1
To identify organisations who meet the required terms of the fund and assess their
application for a new vehicle. Information will be requested on the use of the vehicle
and the types of people served by the organisations.
In the previous round, after a competitive process, 350 successful organisations
were identified and are being provided with vehicles.
Phase 2
Procurement of the vehicles, taking account of the needs of the organisation,
seeking the best value for money possible by collective purchasing where
appropriate.
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1. Introduction
Background
1
The Department for Transport (DfT) have funded a second Community Minibus
Fund which is primarily aimed at organisations who support learning outside of
a traditional classroom setting. CTA have been charged with administering the
new round of funding.
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The bidding process for the second round will differ from the first in that CTA
have been appointed to oversee the funding round's administration. CTA will
provide the delivery plan, governance and resourcing for the fund, through
grant funding from DfT with DfT providing an oversight and taking one role
(within an assessment panel) as decision-maker for bid.
2. Scope of the Second Round
General
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The second round will be open to community transport operators who provide a
service to their local community, or several local communities where users are
geographically disperse. It will be limited to one vehicle per organisation.
We are particularly keen to support services who provide a role in education
outside of traditional 'classroom learning'. Bids from educational organisations
who fulfil this requirement, such as activity centres for disabled young people,
organisations who support adult learning etc. will be favourably scored. The
fund is open to those who hold at least one permit under Section 19 of the
Transport Act 1985 to run not-for-profit services of benefit to the local
community. You will need to provide a copy of a valid Section 19 permit when
completing the application form.
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The new fund will continue to support rural services and bids from
organisations serving rural areas will be favourably scored.
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5
To be successful you will need to be clear that the vehicle provided is going to
be used for voluntary services only and not used to compete for tendered
contracts let by public sector bodies.
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You must be an established organisation using a recognised not-for-profit legal
form, such as a charitable incorporated organisation, charitable company
(limited by guarantee) or community interest company, and able to demonstrate
that you are running a service to benefit the community.
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We expect you to be compliant with European Commission rules on State Aid
funding. You will need to ensure that the total income you receive in grants
from public sector bodies (including local authorities) is less than €200,000
(approximately £160,000 at the time of publishing), the de minimis limit, over a
rolling three year period, i.e. in any period of three consecutive years. This
would not include money that has been received for a contract which you have
bid for. (Please see appendix one for guidance on the rules of state aid)
Vehicle Specification
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During this stage of the application process you will not be asked to specify
your vehicle requirements. If successful you will be asked to pick a vehicle from
a set specification
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This will include but is not limited to:
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
Vehicle type

Vehicle Brand

Seating capacity

Configuration – this is how the minibus can be changed to accommodate
wheelchair spaces, and includes passenger lifts or ramps for wheelchairs
and flexible removable seating

Colour
Please be aware that if you are successful the lead time for receiving your
minibus can vary greatly depending on the current availability in the market and
as each minibus will be converted to meet the chosen specification you pick.
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We hope that all successful applicants will have received their minibus by
March 2018. We expect winning bidders to make full use of the vehicle and will
ask for a commitment that it is retained for a minimum period of two years.
Bidding and Assessment
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Bidders should complete all sections of the bidding form. You should use the
space provided in the form to provide as much information as possible to allow
the Panel to assess the bid. You will need to provide a copy of one valid
Section 19 permit when you submit the bid.
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Bids which are not submitted on the correct form will not be considered, nor will
forms received after the advertised deadline.
Bid Assistance
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The CTA are available to assist all applicants, in any aspect of the bid, in order
to ensure bids are of the highest quality possible. You do not need to be a CTA
member to receive this support and guidance. The bids will be jointly assessed
by a panel consisting of the Department for Transport, CTA staff and other
stakeholders.
Scoring
Bids will be validated using the following essential criteria:

That you are an established organisation.

That you are a registered charity or other not-for-profit entity.

That you have a Section 19 permit.

That you undertake not to use the vehicle to compete for tendered contracts
let by public sector bodies.

That money paid to your organisation by public sector bodies does not
exceed the de minimis State Aid limit (€200,000, approximately £160,000) in
a rolling three-year period.
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Bids will be scored using the following desirable criteria:
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Education: You will be asked to provide a description of the services you
provide and whether/how this links to education and activities, particularly for
disabled young people. An assessment will be made on the extent to which
your organisation, should you receive a minibus, will use it to facilitate
educational goals.
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Location: please provide the main postcode area in which your service
operates. It would also be beneficial if you could also provide some additional
information on the route/routes of your service/services. We will use this
information to identify whether the area is rural according to a standard
definition of rurality used across DfT projects. Applications will be ranked
according to the extent to which they are both “rural” and “deprived”. A score
out of three will be extrapolated from this.
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Additionality: This will be scored out of three according to the answer to
question 4b and 4c in the bidding form. If a vehicle is being replaced a high
score for this criteria would be given in instances where the vehicle is in such
need of replacement that a service would otherwise be withdrawn. If a fleet is
being expanded we would give a high score to applicants who have identified
an additional local need. Strong applications would plan to serve educational
needs either through new services or more frequent services. Applicants who
can demonstrate how their minibus will be used to boost employment and
volunteering opportunities will attract favourable scoring.
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Strategic fit: Based on the answer to question 5a in the bidding form. This will
be assessed qualitatively out of three. An assessment will be made of the
evidence of the extent to which the vehicle will enable “the sustainability and
independence of communities”.
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Provision for multiple users: Based on the answer to question 5b in the
bidding form. You should demonstrate how the new vehicle could fulfil unmet
needs in the wider community. Whilst being given a raw score out of three, this
criteria will be given a lower weight.
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Scoring system:
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The essential criteria will be scored with pass/fail criteria.
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The desirable criteria will be scored in the following way:
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
Strong

Acceptable

Not acceptable
An overall score will be assigned using this scoring system and bids described
as 'Not acceptable' will be ruled out.
Submitting a Bid
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You should provide a completed copy of the bidding form along with supporting
documents to the Community Transport Association via email.
Email: [email protected]
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Completed bids must be submitted to the Community Transport Association by
17:00 on Friday 2 December 2016.
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