Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the value for money delivered by Network Rail’s Framework Contract approach to procurement; and if he will make a statement.

Network Rail has a strong record of employing framework agreements to deliver major programmes of work and these have been used throughout Control Period 5 and are a significant feature of the procurement route for Control Period 6 (CP6).

The benefits associated with this approach include the ability for suppliers to have better work-bank visibility and thereby develop more efficient delivery plans for high volumes of works that are generally repetitive in nature. In addition to employing consistent management and delivery teams, this regime makes use of key performance metrics that support structured continuous improvements with regards safety, programme predictability, costs and innovation.

In addition, early years performance and cost capture is used to benchmark and drive improved performance for subsequent years. Also the ongoing engagement between organisations looks to establish better coordination and collaboration in the planning, delivery and stewardship of commercial issues with a lower likelihood of formal disputes, the resolution of which can be costly. Incentivisation mechanisms such as volume discounts and extensions for good/high performance are also designed to promote efficiency and value for money.

Network Rail recognises that when properly formed, procured and administered, framework agreements drive improvements in safety, predictability and value for money and are well received by the supply chain and plans to build on the experience of the current control period to realise efficiencies during CP6.