Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 30 June (HL705), whether the competitive procurement exercise that secured two Concession Service Providers of English language testing in the United Kingdom, and one for overseas, was subject to an open tender process; and if not, what was the nature of the competitive procurement process, and how many providers were invited to tender.

The Home Office advertised the tender opportunity using a contract notice on the TED (Tenders Electronic Daily - the online version of the 'Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union', dedicated to European public procurement). The Home Office followed the principles of the Open Procedure. There were 22 providers who were invited to tender.