.jpg)
The Leading News & Information Service For The Facilities, Workplace & Built Environment Community
The Department for Transport has today announced that a new public body, Great British Railways, will integrate the railways and manage all rail infrastructure.
This will be the biggest change in railway infrastructure in 25 years. The public body will collect fare revenue, run and plan the network, and set most fares and timetables.
What might this change mean for the related facilities management contracts?
The government has stated that there will remain a "substantial and often greater role for the private sector" within the new system. GBR will contract private partners to operate most trains to the timetables and fares it specifies, with a model similar to that used by Transport for London in its Overground and Docklands Light Railway services.
It is not yet clear whether cleaning and security contracts will also be managed through private partners, or will be subject to a public sector procurement process.
.png)
The new Passenger Service Contracts are intended to remove barriers to new market entrants, including by no longer basing competitions on complex and uncertain revenue forecasts. Private operators will therefore be challenged to provide a competitive and customer-focused offer, delivering greater value-for-money for the taxpayer.
In order to win government work, organisations must be able to prove how they’ll deliver on social value. As set out in the procurement policy note: “Taking Account of Social Value in the Award of Central Government Contracts,” from 1 January 2021 “social value should be explicitly evaluated in all central government procurement.”
Previously, under the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012, social value only needed to be “considered”.
This marks a growing emphasis on corporate social responsibility and sustainability, a move which can be seen in the wider facilities management world as organisations seek to re-prioritise green initiatives. Might these rules now apply to railway contracts?
Picture: a photograph of a train on a track
Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 20 May 2021
Barking Riverside, the capital’s newest railway station, is set to open this summer ahead of schedule. The launch was originally earmarked for autumn 2022, but...
Read Full ArticleHow can the security industry as a whole help to lower carbon emissions? In part two of this series on climate change and the security industry, Julie Hulme,...
Read Full ArticleTransport for London is searching for a new joint venture partner to create a portfolio of three new commercial office developments at Bank, Paddington and...
Read Full ArticlePostcodes with stations due to benefit from the new Elizabeth Line have seen house prices increase by 79 per cent since the project was first announced. The first new...
Read Full Article70 per cent of respondents to Alcumus’ “Risk Barometer” say that they have been negatively impacted by a supplier in the last year. As supply chain...
Read Full ArticleCrossrail services on the new Elizabeth Line are set to open on Tuesday 24 May 2022. Subject to final safety approvals, it is hoped that the line will operate 12...
Read Full ArticleTransport for London is encouraging people to give up their seats to people who may need them to mark Priority Seating Week. Transport for London (TfL)...
Read Full ArticleMace Construct and Willmott Dixon have been jointly appointed by the Crown Commercial Service to all three lots of the NHS ProCure23 Framework. The appointment will...
Read Full ArticleAs the country recovers from COVID and transport infrastructure projects such as HS2 and road networks are expanding, demand for providing security to the transport...
Read Full ArticleLet’s take a look at some of this month’s most interesting high performing buildings in the UK. Watch the...
Read Full Article.gif)
.gif)
.gif){kind=tracking}
