Could you please provide details of what anti-competitive controls/measures TfL have in place to prevent current and future operator supplier abuse of the TfL bus market.

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TfL Ref: FOI-0351-2021

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 8^th June 2020 asking for information about the bus market in London.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.

Specifically you asked:

“Could you please provide details of what anti-competitive controls/measures TfL have in place to prevent current and future operator supplier abuse of the TfL bus market.”

TfL has an open and competitive tendering system in the London bus market to help us achieve fairness and best value. Suppliers must also satisfy pre-conditions before they can tender for TfL services as we need to be confident they can offer consistently safe, efficient and reliable services. We also regularly brief our contract management staff about good tendering practice to help avoid the potential for abuse. There is a commercial sensitive stage of placing tenders in camera to ensure operators cannot see the bids of competitors and we get the best overall deal for those routes. Once contracts are finalised, they are provided to the https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder for transparency. All operators must additional comply with UK competition rules and regulations regarding public sector contracts.

More information on bus tendering can be found on our website here:

https://tfl.gov.uk/forms/13923.aspx

If this is not the information you are looking for please do not hesitate to contact me.

On a more general matter, please note that the Government has announced a series of measures to tackle the coronavirus. It is essential for London that we continue to provide a safe transport network for essential journeys.

In current circumstances, we are not able to answer FOI requests readily and we ask that you please do not make a request to us at present.

Answering FOI requests will require the use of limited resources and the attention of staff who could be supporting other essential activity. In any event, please note that our response time will be affected by the current situation.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.

Yours sincerely,

David Wells

FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

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