Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the contract to run a freight service between Ramsgate and Ostend was subject to an open tender process; and if not, which companies were invited to apply.

The contract was let on a closed tender process under the extreme urgency provision in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. However, the Department had approached a total of nine companies inviting expressions of interest in providing freight services.