Member

Amendment 290 from the noble Lord, Lord Moylan, talks about assessing whether private sector procurement would offer a better use of public funds. I absolutely agree that GBR must deliver value for taxpayers. It will have to take procurement decisions on their merits, taking account of the duty to make efficient use of public funds, as well as its other duties, such as considering what is best for the passengers and the public interest. As the noble Lord suggests, there are likely to be situations where GBR finds that private sector procurement is more cost efficient and delivers more for the public. Network Rail, as its predecessor, is good at this already and a majority of its work on infrastructure is, in fact, contracted out. He used the example of a bench produced at the Lillie Bridge works in West Kensington. London Transport had a much better one because it used to make its own Christmas puddings. I am not expecting GBR to do this.