Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many contracts London North Eastern Railway holds with Rail Gourmet; and what the cost to the public purse is of each of those contracts.

LNER has one contract in place with Rail Gourmet; for catering logistics and product supply. While there is an element of fixed cost in this contract, most of the spend under the terms of this contract is driven by the amount of products (food and drink) LNER orders from Rail Gourmet. The value of these contracts is commercially sensitive as it could well impact a proposal an alternative supplier would put forwards when next this contract goes through a competitive tender exercise. This could then reduce funds returned by LNER to the tax payer.