Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answers of 9 April 2019 to Question 239967 and Question 239968 on High Speed 2 Railway Line: Rolling Stock, for what reason his Department did not adopt the provisions of most economically advantageous tender in relation to (a) quality, (b) cost-effectiveness and (c) life-cycle costs.

As advised in the answers of 9 April 2019, the procurement of rolling stock for HS2 is conducted by HS2 Ltd in line with Utilities Contract Regulations 2016. In addition, I can confirm that the evaluation process does take into account technical quality, deliverability (including wider benefits) and overall whole life value.