In accordance with the provisions of the Transport Act 2000 (as amended by the Bus Services Act 2017) and having followed the legislative procedure set out within the same, the Mayor of Greater Manchester decided on 25th March 2021 to introduce a bus franchising scheme for the entire Greater Manchester Combined Authority (‘GMCA’) area.
As the executive body with responsibility for various transport functions on behalf of the GMCA, TfGM is responsible for various functions associated with the implementation and operation of the franchising scheme, including but not limited to undertaking and managing the procurement process for the school service franchises.
The GMCA will be the contracting entity and the bus franchising scheme will be overseen and managed by Transport for Greater Manchester (‘TfGM’), including the procurement of Schools Bus Franchises services, on behalf of the GMCA.
The procurement of Schools Bus Franchises packages will take place in three tranches which will align with the three franchises in which Large and Small franchises are being procured. These franchises will not all be introduced simultaneously, due to various transitional and implementation issues that will need to be addressed. The School Bus Franchises will be tendered in three Franchise Tranches determined by geographical area, as follows:
(i) The first Schools Franchise Tranche (broadly covering Bolton, Salford and Wigan), is
expected to contain 23 schools only franchises;
(ii) The second Schools Franchise Tranche (broadly covering Bury, Rochdale, North Manchester and Oldham) is expected to contain 6 schools only franchises; and
(iii) The third Schools Franchise Tranche (broadly covering Tameside, Stockport, South Manchester and Trafford) is expected to contain around 25 schools only franchises.
TfGM requires schools services to commence on the first day of the 2023/24 academic year (the actual date will be confirmed and may vary depending on the school served), which is before the period that local service contracts can be awarded under TfGM’s delegated powers from GMCA under section 123A of the Transport Act 2000. Due to this, the successful Tenderer for each package will also be contracted by TfGM under TfGM’s delegated powers under section 9A of the Transport Act 1968 (and the Manchester City Council Report for Resolution following the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (Functions and Amendments) Order 2019 No. 793) and sections 89-92 of the Transport Act 1985 as a secured service contract for the period from 1 September 2023 to 17 September 2023 (under the same franchise agreement) and GMCA intends to issue service permits for such services to the extent required to operate such services within the area of the Franchising Scheme prior to such contracts being local service contracts.
Schools Bus Franchises Key Principles
The key elements of the commercial approach to franchising in Greater Manchester are summarised below. Further detail can be found in the Selection Questionnaire document, which can be found on the Pro-Contract ETendering portal: https://procontract.due-north.com
Depots: Operators will be required to provide their own depot facilities.
Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS): TfGM will procure contracts for the supply and maintenance of some aspects of the required ITS solution (such as vehicle location, ticketing and driver communications systems) to ensure a standardised approach.
The scope of this procurement is to procure contracts under each of the 23 lots (each of which relates to a franchise school package in Tranche 1) based on the schools served, ranging in size from 1 to 13 Peak Vehicle Requirement (PVR).

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