- Original Poster
- #1
We have 2 pupils travelling to a primary school. Their teacher has tested positive so the class has been told to self isolate and return to school after the half term holiday.
The LA have emailed this morning to suspend their transport and have told us to continue transport after the half term in the normal way.
The LA concerned paid all school transport during the original school closure at 100%. This was inline with the Cabinet Office guidance issued in March 20 in relation to 'Supplier Relief Due to Covid 19'
We just had to add a statement to our invoices and they have all been paid in the normal way.
The above Cabinet Office Notice https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...icy-note-0220-supplier-relief-due-to-covid-19 covered our payments until the end of June. The LA then informed us that we would be paid in full until the end of the school term in July as long as we kept drivers employed and vehicles insured/maintained and available.
The contract Standard T&C's have 2 sections which I think are relevant:
H1. CONTRACT VARIATION
H1.1 Subject to clause H1.2, no variation or modification to the contract is valid unless it is in writing and signed by the council and the contractor.
H1.2 The council shall be entitled to issue the contractor in writing, in case of urgency orally (provided the council confirms oral instructions in writing within 10 working days), variation orders requiring the addition, suspension, reduction or cessation of provision of any services and / or the provision of emergency service in accordance with the revised delivery instructions. The contractor shall charge for the impact of the variation order in accordance with the rates and prices used to calculate the price in the tender.
There is a later section in the T&C's, called 'Special Terms and Conditions of Contract for Passenger Transport - This document must be read in conjunction with the Council's Standard Terms & Conditions for the purchase of service.'
Section: 22 Suspension of Contract
22.1 If the services shall be suspended the Council shall make no payment for the period of suspension even if the services are subsequently re-instated.
The standard LA T&C's seem to conflict with 'Special' T&C's? Which set are more relevant in this situation?
The contract that has been suspended thankfully is one that is lower value but I'm obviously concerned for the higher value daily contracts. I'm pretty certain schools won't be closed especially high school) but I know this school already had 7 members of staff self isolating prior to this particular year being sent home.
The LA have emailed this morning to suspend their transport and have told us to continue transport after the half term in the normal way.
The LA concerned paid all school transport during the original school closure at 100%. This was inline with the Cabinet Office guidance issued in March 20 in relation to 'Supplier Relief Due to Covid 19'
We just had to add a statement to our invoices and they have all been paid in the normal way.
The above Cabinet Office Notice https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...icy-note-0220-supplier-relief-due-to-covid-19 covered our payments until the end of June. The LA then informed us that we would be paid in full until the end of the school term in July as long as we kept drivers employed and vehicles insured/maintained and available.
The contract Standard T&C's have 2 sections which I think are relevant:
H1. CONTRACT VARIATION
H1.1 Subject to clause H1.2, no variation or modification to the contract is valid unless it is in writing and signed by the council and the contractor.
H1.2 The council shall be entitled to issue the contractor in writing, in case of urgency orally (provided the council confirms oral instructions in writing within 10 working days), variation orders requiring the addition, suspension, reduction or cessation of provision of any services and / or the provision of emergency service in accordance with the revised delivery instructions. The contractor shall charge for the impact of the variation order in accordance with the rates and prices used to calculate the price in the tender.
There is a later section in the T&C's, called 'Special Terms and Conditions of Contract for Passenger Transport - This document must be read in conjunction with the Council's Standard Terms & Conditions for the purchase of service.'
Section: 22 Suspension of Contract
22.1 If the services shall be suspended the Council shall make no payment for the period of suspension even if the services are subsequently re-instated.
The standard LA T&C's seem to conflict with 'Special' T&C's? Which set are more relevant in this situation?
The contract that has been suspended thankfully is one that is lower value but I'm obviously concerned for the higher value daily contracts. I'm pretty certain schools won't be closed especially high school) but I know this school already had 7 members of staff self isolating prior to this particular year being sent home.
