Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his Department's internal staffing and administration costs were for franchise specification and procurement in each year since 2010-11.

Prior to the re-launch of the Franchising Programme in spring 2013, these costs were not broken down to individual team level. Figures from April 2013 are as follows:

This represents the staff costs of those in franchise project teams (including Contingent Labour where utilised), and administrative overheads where apportioned to these teams.

The costs of procuring the current Intercity East Coast franchise (awarded 2015) were not charged to the public purse and are not included in the above figures (these costs were covered by the Performance Bond that National Express put forward following its default of the previous East Coast contract).