Public Transport Division
Tony Woodford
Third Floor
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx Clarence Court
10-18 Adelaide Street
Belfast
BT2 8GB
Your reference:
Our reference: DFI/2021-0059
12 March 2021
Dear Mr. Woodford,
Re: Freedom of Information request
Thank you for your e-mail dated 15th February 2021 requesting, under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000, information relating to the tender process for
the Translink service agreement. Your request states:
I understand that the Department is to directly award the vast majority of all
bus services in Northern Ireland to Translink without a tender process.
(i) Details of the procurement process to be followed
(ii) steps taken to ensure the direct award represents 'best value for
money'.
In response to your request, I can confirm that:
(i)
Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007 of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 23 October 2007 on public passenger transport services by rail
and by road requires that:
“where a competent authority decides to grant the operator of its
choice an exclusive right and/or compensation, of whatever nature, in
return for the discharge of public service obligations, it shall do so
within the framework of a public service contract.” (Article 3)
Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007 goes on to outline the mandatory content of
any such public service contract, as well as rules on how it should be
awarded, including the circumstances in which it can be directly awarded.
EC Regulation 1370 is captured as a sectorial block exemption regulation
within the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland and, as such, continues to
apply in Northern Ireland domestic law after Brexit.
Section 2 (2) of the
Transport Act (Northern Ireland) 2011
(legislation.gov.uk) provides the Department with:
“power to award public service contracts in accordance with Regulation
(EC) No. 1370/2007.”
Section 1(3) of The Transport Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 specifies that the
Department:
“must […] secure that most public passenger transport services
continue to be provided by the [Northern Ireland Transport] Holding
Company and its subsidiaries.”
The process to award the contract to NITHC (operating as Translink) under
a Public Service Agreement will therefore be in accordance with the
requirements of the Transport Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 and the
provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007.
(ii)
As outlined in (i) above, The Transport Act (Northern Ireland) 2011
stipulates that NITHC must provide the majority of public transport services
in Northern Ireland. Section 1(1) of this legislation obliges the Department to
ensure that the Public Service Agreement with NITHC is agreed and carried
out with due regard to economy, efficiency and sustainability.
These values are closely aligned with The Procurement Board’s definition of
‘best value for money’, as endorsed by the Northern Ireland Executive i.e.:
“the most advantageous combination of cost, quality and sustainability
to meet customer requirements.”
The Department is currently considering how these values can best be
captured and implemented in the new Public Service Agreement. This will
include the development of a new performance framework which sets
challenging targets for Translink and measures, which continue to drive
efficiency over the duration of the PSA.
If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to ask
for an internal review. Internal review requests should be submitted within two
months of the date of receipt of the response to your original letter and should be
addressed to:
Departmental Information Manager
DfI Information Management Unit
Clarence Court
10-18, Adelaide Street
Belfast
BT2 8GB
xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right
to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information
Commissioner can be contacted at: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe
House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.
The supply of information under the Freedom of Information Act does not give the
recipient or organisation that receives it the automatic right to reuse it in any way
that would infringe copyright. This includes, for example, making multiple copies,
publishing or issuing copies to the public. Permission to re-use the information
must be obtained in advance from the Controller of HMSO who has responsibility
for the licensing of Crown Copyright material. For further details on how to apply
for a licence please see
: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-
government-licence/version/3/. Copyright in other documents may rest with a third party. For information about
obtaining permission from a third party please see the Intellectual Property
Office’s website
: www.ipo.gov.uk. Yours sincerely,
JACKIE ROBINSON
Director Public Transport Division
