Department for Transport awards pre-qualification 'passports' to rail companies

The Department for Transport (DfT) said that the passports would simplify the pre-qualification process for participating companies, provide greater value for money to the taxpayer and reduce the administrative burdens on both bidders and government.

"Simplifying the process will help open up the market to more bidders and improve competition on our railways - which is ultimately great news for customers," said rail minister Claire Perry.

"With the PQQ Passport we are seizing the opportunity to make a change for the better and implement an innovative solution to manage some of the largest procurement projects in the UK. It balances the need to manage proper assurance against the need for a healthy, competitive and open market, and I would encourage any interested companies to apply," she said.

However, transport law expert Patrick Twist of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said that the significance of the initiative "should not be overstated".

"The passport only relates to bids for a rail franchise; and even when a bidder has obtained a passport it will still be required to complete questionnaires in respect of economic and financial standing and, potentially, capability and technical ability for franchise bids," he said.

"However, any steps to reduce the box-ticking element of public sector procurement are to be welcomed. Bid teams will be very familiar with having to reproduce the same information time and again to satisfy pre-qualification criteria, so the introduction of PQQ passports by the DfT is useful," he said.

PQQs are documents that prospective bidders for public contracts are often required to fill out as part of the bidding process. Details supplied in PQQs help bodies looking to award a contract to assess which businesses to invite to formally bid for those contracts. The DfT's new passporting system will allow pre-approved companies to submit the most resource-intensive sections of the PQQ once, and to use the same information in any expression of interest over a four-year period.

Perry said that the DfT had awarded the passports to "a diverse and competitive" selection of bidders from both the UK and overseas. The successful companies are Abellio, Arriva UK, First, Go-Ahead, Govia, Keolis (UK), MTR Corporation (UK), National Express, Stagecoach, Trenitalia and Virgin.

The announcement came as the government published a consultation on the future of rail services in the West Midlands, in conjunction with local transport authority umbrella body West Midlands Rail. The consultation will run for 14 weeks, and seeks views on how the next operator of the West Midlands rail franchise should be expected to improve services. The new franchise is due to start in October 2017.