Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what criteria his Department used to identify new entrants to the market in the absence of an invitation to tender being published when awarding contracts for additional shipping freight capacity under Regulation 32 of The Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

I refer the hon Member to my Rt hon Friend's Written Statement of 7 January [HCWS 1233].

A negotiated procurement procedure without prior publication was concluded as allowed for by Regulation 32 of The Public Contracts Regulations 2015. An accelerated competitive process was carried out in order to ensure that capacity can be in place in time for a No Deal exit whilst at the same time securing value for money for the taxpayer.