Saving money while protecting a lifeline service for disabled people has won public body Nexus a national award for excellence in procurement.
The Taxicard scheme is used by more than 3,000 members in Tyne and Wear who get discounted taxi travel to get to shops, leisure activities and health appointments, and provides about 135,000 trips every year.
Nexus slashed the cost to the taxpayer of providing Taxicard through a unique new deal with taxi companies, saving the service from cuts at a time when public bodies are under great pressure to reduce spending.
Its achievement has been recognised, with Nexus winning the prize for Innovation of the Year at the National Government Opportunities (GO) Excellence in Public Procurement Awards, held in Manchester.
John Fenwick, Director of Finance and Resources for Nexus, said: “Taxicard is an example of how we have been able to avoid cuts to local transport in Tyne and Wear by working closely with local councils and seeking efficiency in everything we do.
“By changing Taxicard from a series of contracts offered to local firms to a concession they could buy into to benefit their wider business we are saving £230,000 over three years while maintaining the same standard of service.
“Taxi firms recognize the value of their relationship with around 3,000 people who qualify for Taxicard and we have a group of trusted partners who have joined the concession.”
Nexus is the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive and provides a range of local services and concessions on behalf of the North East Combined Authority.
It has reduced the cost of providing Taxicard by an estimated 18% in three years – vital at a time when it has warned that many local services it supports through funding from local councils are under threat.
It has warned that despite being able to drive efficiencies such as this, services will have to be cut after 2017 if it is unable to deliver the Combined Authority’s proposal for a Quality Contracts Scheme to restructure the local bus market and reduce the cost to local taxpayers of supporting routes and concessions.
Nexus stood alongside major public institutions including the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency and University of Glasgow at the awards. Details of other winners can be found at www.goawards.co.uk.