All Supported Transport is procured through the DPS, applicants who wish to join the DPS should apply online and complete the application and admission process. If their application is approved by the council, they will be notified that their application has been successful.

The council will continually advertise mini-competitions (call-offs) on the South East Business Portal.  Each quarter the council will publish a contract award notice for all call-off contracts awarded during the previous quarter.

How to apply to join the Supported Transport DPS

You can apply online via the South East Business Portal. To be accepted onto the DPS, the Applicant must meet the council’s required selection criteria and:

• Requires applicants to respond to a series of mandatory questions that need to be answered.
• Requires the applicant to meet a minimum pass threshold for a series of scored questions.
• Requires the applicant to meet the minimum economic financial stability requirements.
• Requires applicants to stipulate which Lots (vehicle type) they wish to join.

The Service Specification, DPS Agreement and SSQ documents will be available via the South East Business Portal during the DPS period. It is advisable for the applicant to read these documents prior to submission.

Once completed, applications will be checked and validated, and applicants will receive a notification confirming whether or not their application to join the DPS has been successful.

• DPS Call-offs: Submitting a response on the South East Business Portal (pdf format, 1Mb)

Required documentation to join the DPS

At the time of application:

• DPS SSQ - Completed Application form
• Public Liability insurance in the company name: Minimum of £5,000,000 
• Employers Liability insurance in the company name: Minimum of £10,000,000
• Relevant Operator License in the company name or Hackney Licences

Once successful notification has been received (although we are happy to accept these documents at the point of application):

• 2 years profit vs loss accounts
• 2 years of balance sheets
• Written statement confirming no significant change in accounts since the date of submitted accounts (if accounts are more than 6 months old)
• A letter including company letterhead (to register for our payments system). More information.

If you are applying as a brand-new company and have no accounts to submit, you should provide a business plan with projections for your first two years.

New provider induction process

All providers will be invited to attend a Service Provider Meeting, during which we will discuss or review:

• Frequently asked questions and important points to note – this is an overview and providers should be familiar with the DPS Contract & Service Specification before operating any routes for the council
• The complaints procedures
• GDPR compliance
• DBS badge applications
• Assigned finance limit, determined by the Corporate Finance Team through assessment of the documentation you provide
• All insurance and licence documentation provided

During this meeting, assuming all of the above is complete you will be invited to sign the DPS Agreement after which we can add you to the South East Business Portal to begin viewing tender opportunities.  It is important that providers refrain from quoting for work until they have sufficient levels of OCC badged staff to cover them.

• More information on how to apply for OCC badges

For your information

• Please be aware that due to limited resource and high demand to join the DPS, should we not receive a response from a provider after three consecutive chasing emails; we will withdraw the application and the provider will be required to reapply.
• If an application is unsuccessful, applicants may re-apply for entry onto the DPS at any time during the DPS Agreement period.  Each month a new “round” opens for new applicants, new applications will be reviewed once per month from the first working day.  Any applications submitted past this date will not be reviewed until the following month.
• The South East Business Portal automatically generates a notification for providers to apply for the DPS at the start of each new round. If you are already on the DPS, please ignore these notifications.  We are not able to stop the system from sending the notifications to providers who have already been accepted onto the DPS, apologies for any confusion this may cause.