Decision

To extend the current IndieGo Plus contract with Warwickshire County Council for a further 12 months subject to continued performance measures, for the provision of a demand responsive transport service covering Stratford-on-Avon District.

Reasons for the decision

The IndieGo Plus demand responsive transport service commissioned and delivered by Warwickshire County Council (WCC) replaced the UBUS demand responsive transport service in November 2024. UBUS was a jointly commissioned service where WCC commissioned the third-party vehicle and driver providers and Stratford-on-Avon District Council (SDC) the booking centre provider.

IndieGo Plus is commissioned by WCC only with SDC contributing via a contract of £120k per annum for additional capacity to align the service provision to near what was previously delivered by UBUS.

At SDC’s Cabinet on 6th October 2025 members were presented with an officer report IndieGo Plus (Formerly UBUS) Demand Responsive Transport Review of Warwickshire County Council Provision and Recommendations for Future Services and subsequently voted to extend the contract with WCC until the end of the existing budget (2028/29) and continue to scrutinise the delivery of the revised contract.

WCC and Liftango have been working with SDC to increase numbers using the service by trialling set routes on certain days for well used journeys and grouping passengers together. This is similar to how UBUS evolved where routes were established to maximise passengers on journeys. From data supplied by WCC for the period Apr-Oct 25 there were 4636 journeys completed compared with Apr-Oct 26 there were 5504 journeys completed. This demonstrates an increase of 868 or 19% for this period.

The contract with WCC allows for it to be extended for three further periods of twelve months up to a maximum term of five years subject to earlier termination in accordance with the terms.

Alternative options considered

Several factors have been taken into account and the following has been considered in reaching this decision:

• Whether the budget allows for these grant awards.
• Whether the organisations are appropriately qualified to undertake this work.
• Whether these organisations delivered this work effectively with the 2025/26 award.
• Whether this work is aligned with the Growing Opportunities and Council Plans.
• Whether a need exists for this activity and spending.

The answer to all of these questions is ‘yes’.