RIA Procurement Watch - November 2022 by Railway Industry Association

Dear RIA colleagues, Welcome to the latest version of RIA's Procurement Watch, featuring procurement updates from key clients as well as market intelligence and information collected by RIA. We are aware there is a great amount of uncertainty in the wider economy at the moment, and RIA continues to push for clear strategies and pipelines with regards to rail investment. You might be particularly interested in RIA's analysis of the 2019 Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline, which includes our understanding of the latest status on each of the 58 projects. Later today RIA members will also be receiving a briefing on the latest government reshuffle. Scroll down for a number of items which we hope will be useful, including updated organograms from Transport for London and Network Rail, as well as a briefing on how the new procurement legislation is progressing. This edition includes: •

RIA's own version of the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline

•

An update on Great British Railways Legislation

•

A briefing on the new Procurement Bill

•

An update on Periodic Review 23

•

Information about the Retained EU Law Bill

•

Advice about engaging with TOCs

We have also shared information from key clients, including: •

Department for Transport

•

Transport for London (including new organograms)

•

HS2

•

East West Rail

•

The Network Rail regions (including new organograms)

•

Wales

•

Global Centre of Rail Excellence

•

Scotland

•

ScotRail

You will have the chance to meet several of these clients on the second day of the RIA Annual Conference 2022, during client networking sessions. We hope you will find this summary useful, and please do get in touch with any feedback or suggestions for future editions. Robert Cook, Policy Director

If you have any feedback or intelligence that we can share and/or suggestions for future additions please contact clara.wikforss@riagb.org.uk. Please note that this Procurement Watch is for RIA Members only and we ask that you do not share it beyond your organisation. Also note that this document should not be read as professional procurement or legal advice.

Strategic Policy Updates RIA publishes its own RNEP Three years after the latest announcement was made public by the UK Government, RIA published its own Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP), which can be viewed here. Created in 2019, the RNEP was billed as a ‘new approach for rail proposals’, which would provide certainty and transparency through the annual publication of a pipeline of enhancement projects in England and Wales. However, Friday 21 October

2022 marked three years since the publication of the first and only iteration of the RNEP. RIA has published its own RNEP, based on publicly available information about the original 58 projects as well as more recently announced enhancements, to give some understanding of enhancement projects to its members. We hope you will find this update useful, and please do get in touch if you have any intelligence to share.

Great British Railways legislation delayed On 19 October, then Transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan announced that the legislation for Great British Railways (GBR) will be delayed. View RIA's response to this here. RIA understands that the parts of GBR which do not require new legislation, such as carrying out operations, enhancements, and renewals under the CP7 settlement, might still be set up for April 2024. Before the delay was announced, the Department for Transport held a consultation on the GBR legislation. RIA's reponse to the consultation called for a legal duty to consider supply chain resilience and to create a level playing field for the private sector. View the full response here. We are pleased to invite you to the next regular RIA Member meeting with Anit Chandarana, Lead Director of GBRTT. This will take place in-person at the RIA offices on 13 December. Please read more and register here.

The ORR issues new HLOS and SoFA dates The Office of Rail and Road have issued an extension notice for the governments to issue the Statement of Funds Available (SoFA) and the High Level Output Specification (HLOS). The new dates are 25 November for the UK Government and 9 January for the Scottish Government. Read the full ORR announcement here.

Once published, the statements will feed into the development of Network Rail's business plans for CP7. CP7 will begin in April 2024, and we can expect Network Rail delivery plans for CP7 to be published early 2024.

New Procurement Bill progresses The new Procurement Bill aims to create a new public procurement regime, as part of the Government’s post-Brexit approach. The bill has been progressing and is awaiting the beginning of its Report Stage in the House of Lords. RIA has prepared a briefing on the bill, including its key content and aims. You can view the briefing here and please get in touch if you have any questions or particular concerns that you think RIA should be aware of. You can sign up here for a regular newsletter from the Government Commercial Function on the Transforming Public Procurement programme.

Retained EU Law Bill RIA is following the progress of the Retained EU Law Bill – the bill intended to sunset EU legislation that was left over from the Trade and Cooperation Agreement agreed between the UK and the EU in December 2020. This bill will either sunset (revoke) retained EU Law, or change the way that what remains is to be interpreted - all by December 2023. RIA is working with the Department for Transport and other industry stakeholders, such as RSSB, to understand the extent of the impact on the railway industry and what pieces of legislation will need to be looked at out of the 2400+ laws included in the Bill. We will keep you posted on any progress.

Engaging with TOCs RIA recently hosted a briefing for members with Abellio, about engaging with TOCs at the right time for the right outcomes for industry. You can view the slides from the session here, which includes an overview of the Annual Business Planning process, indicating when the supply chain should feed into the process.

Key Clients Department for Transport The DfT Organogram can be found here, and was updated on 31 October. Paul Rogers, Commercial Director, oversees DfT supplier relationships. The DfT SME supply chain lead is Robert Vaughan and you can get in touch at GCDSMELead@dft.gov.uk and read more here. General supplier queries should be addressed to supplychainmanagement@dft.gov.uk.

DfT have provided updates about the STARTwo Framework, including SME spend to date. This can be viewed here. The STARThree Framework will be split into two lots over four years, with an estimated value of up to £600m. After submissions to the Selection Questionnaire were made over summer, potential providers should have received feedback letters and an invitation to tender was planned to go out on 17 October. DfT uses Crown Commercial Service Framework Agreements for much of its sourcing activities. Please see the CCS website for further information on how to find opportunities. If there is no established framework, DfT will advertise all procurement opportunities on Contracts Finder or Find a Tender Service. Individual teams like Rail Group, procure their own advice from the STAR framework.

Transport for London (see organogram here) Transport for London (TfL) uses ProContract and the Government Contracts Finder service to list opportunities. Suppliers not already registered can sign up for ProContract here. RIA understands that TfL's focus going forward will be on digitalisation and being an intelligent client by showing the supply chain their willingness to work in partnership. TfL have recently changed their organisational structure: the Chief Procurement Officer role no longer exists, and there are now three functional heads – Capital, Operational and Professional Services. Supplier Relationship Management is now led by the Capability and Supplier Management Team, headed by Declan Rate. See here for the updated organograms.

HS2 HS2 advertises opportunities on CompeteFor and the HS2 Supply Chain website. HS2 also publish information about indirect contract opportunities with their supply chain here. HS2 have signed the Rail Supply Group's Work Pipeline Visibility Charter and is now making the Technical Specifications for all its Rail Systems packages publicly available. These can be viewed here. Sign up to the HS2 Supply Chain newsletter here. HS2 have recently published an updated Supplier Guide. The new guide offers guidance for interested parties and introduces key Tier 1 construction parties, linking to their procurement and supply chain teams. This can be found here. HS2 Station Construction Partner, Mace Dragados Joint Venture, are beginning a multiyear programme of procurement for both Euston Station and Curzon Street Station. The Mace Dragados HS2 Euston Station Procurement Pipeline can be viewed here. The Curzon Street Station procurement pipeline will be available here once published, and suppliers can register their interest for Curzon Street by emailing BCZ.procurement@macedragados.com.

East West Rail East West Rail uses Delta as their chosen e-tendering system. Suppliers can register there to be kept up-to-date on new contract opportunities.

East West Rail recently published details of a 1.1 billion contract for civils works, as part of the Department for Transport's updated commercial pipeline. The contract is for a construction phase main civil works partners. Procurement is due to start in August 2024, with work starting in 2025 and finishing in 2032. For background, the East West Rail Alliance was procured by Network Rail to construct the section of EWR between Bicester and Bletchley (EWR2), and is made up of Atkins, Laing O’Rourke, VolkerRail and Network Rail. To access its tenders, you can visit CompeteFor.

Network Rail Network Rail updates their procurement pipeline every four weeks. It includes varying levels of detail for each Network Rail region as well as for national programmes and can be found here. Renewals forecasts and volume reports are also published on the same website. Network Rail uses BravoNR, Compete For, and RISQS (The Railway Industry Supplier Qualification Scheme) to share information on current opportunities. To sign up for the Network Rail supplier newsletter register contact suppliercommunications@networkrail.co.uk. Network Rail have introduced a new PQQ question for all procurement with a value of £5m per annum or greater. To proceed you now have to publish a Carbon Reduction Plan and be publicly committed to achieving Net Zero by 2050. Read more here. RIA has asked Network Rail to provide updated regional organograms, you can download these here. Read on for updates from each Network Rail region.

Network Rail Southern (see organogram here) Southern Integrated Delivery will be based on Project 13 principles and include Signalling, Track, Buildings & Civils, Electrification and Plant, and Minor Works. See more details here.

Tim Walden has recently joined as the new Capital Delivery Director for the region. Cameron Burns is the Strategic Commercial Director for Southern Region and you can view the full commercial team in the organogram linked above.

Network Rail North West & Central (see organogram here) North West & Central are undertaking their regional CP7 framework procurement in two phases. The first phase for renewals and reactive/minor works is underway, with the Contract Notices and tender documents issued on 14 June. In late September the procurement team announced that the second phase, for enhancements frameworks, has been delayed. The region held a market update on 11 May. You can view the slides from this here and a video from the event here. The focus for CP7 will be on making the network ready for HS2. RIA understands that NW&C asset policy for CP7 will have a bias towards life extension and that the new operating model moves completely to an asset based model. Instead of works delivery, there will be capital delivery teams working on a regional level. The teams will cover: •

Buildings and civils

•

Track

•

Signalling

•

Enhancements

•

Enhancements for HS2

RIA understands that the pre-qualification exercise for NW&C will look very similar compared to other regions and compared to past exercises. The main difference will be the types of case studies suppliers might want to submit. NW&C provided an update on Midlands Rail Hub in October, after a Market Briefing Session held in June (view the slides here). RIA understands that they have collected responses from a Market Sounding Questionnaire and are planning to hold a second Market Briefing Session in late 2022. RIA also understands that the new timings for Package 3 procurement are: •

Sourcing strategy governance: Q1 2023

•

Contract notice published: Q2 2023

•

PQQ response period: Q2 2023

•

ITT response period: Q3 2023 - Q4 2023

•

Award: Q1 2024 - Q2 2024

In addition to BravoNR, NW&C encourages SMEs to sign up to CompeteFor to view opportunities. To make sure you get invited to any future events and briefings you can get in touch with Charlotte Blach at charlotte.blach@networkrail.co.uk

Network Rail Eastern (see organogram here) Network Rail Eastern hosted a supplier update on 20 October. You can view the slides from this here. RIA understands that the region is currently developing a procurement strategy for Midland Mainline, with a PQQ set to be issued in early 2023. RIA also understands that the aim of the strategy is for it to be a blueprint for future investment for affordable and cost-effective electrification. RIA also understands that the region has abandoned the CP7 Eastern Region Renewals and Minor Enhancement procurement as they have assessed that the scope, as

advertised at PQQ stage, no longer fits the business needs of the framework. RIA understands that a new Contract Notice will be published in due course. Slides from a June briefing event on Midland Mainline can be found here. Mike Halliday is the new Programme Director for Supply Chain and suppliers can get in touch with him at Mike.Halliday@networkrail.co.uk.

Network Rail Scotland (see organogram here) Scotland's Railway recently held a supplier engagement event, briefing suppliers on their draft procurement strategy to support the delivery of Civils and Electrification for CP7. The slides can be viewed here. For any questions about supplier engagement, please get in touch with Martin McLaren, Head of Supplier Management at martin.mclaren@networkrail.co.uk

Network Rail Wales & Western (see organogram here) Network Rail Wales & Western hold monthly supplier updates and they also host a supply chain Teams channel where regular updates are posted. To register and gain access to the channel please email Patrick.Benjuya@networkrail.co.uk. Wales & Western provided an updated Procurement Pipeline on 20 October 2022.This can be downloaded here. In early October, the region hosted a conference on their intelligent client vision. RIA understands that the contracting strategies will be: •

For Track: The current alliance continues

•

For Signalling: The region will be joining the national framework CP7 procurement

•

For B&C: They are learning lessons from the current frameworks to a more simplified approach. They are looking to align to the construction playbook and embed collaborative working and early contractor involvement

•

For E&P: They are putting in place a dedicated framework for the differing solutions required in this portfolio. There has not been a region-wide dedicated framework in place for E&P before.

All new procurements will be under collaborative NEC4 contracts.

Wales For Wales, Sell2Wales is the national advertising portal where Welsh public sector organisations post their contract opportunities. One of the aims of Sell2Wales is to help SMEs work successfully with the public sector in Wales. You can search for tenders here. See also the National Procurement Service which offers procurement advice and guidance.

Global Centre of Rail Excellence The Global Centre of Rail Excellence (GCRE) will provide a modern rail testing and innovation facility and the project is split in to three core phases.

•

Phase 1: The provision of sidings for rolling stock from June 2023

•

Phase 2: The building of two electrified test loops together with supporting infrastructure from 2024

•

Phase 3: The addition of expanded stabling, maintenance, and commissioning facilities along with research facilities, hotel, and business park in 2025 and ongoing.

There is currently a competition open to apply for a share of up to £575,000 for feasibility studies with projects to propose, deliver and demonstrate Innovation in Railway Construction. Read more and apply here.

GCRE uses Sell2Wales and their Buyer Profile can be found here. Tamara Evans is the procurement contact (tamara.evans@gcre.wales) for GCRE.

Scotland Public Contracts Scotland is the Scottish Government’s official national portal for public sector contract opportunities. Supplier Journey offers guidance for suppliers on the Scottish public sector procurement process and the Supplier Development Programme provides free courses on how to tender and bid better. PCS-Tender is the national eTendering system, centrally funded by the Scottish Government

ScotRail ScotRail plans to replace 65% of its train fleet (around 675 carriages) in the period 2027 to 2035. This will be delivered through three procurement competitions:

•

Phase 1 2022-23: Procurement for a new fleet of suburban trains which will enter passenger service between 2027 and 2030. These trains will connect local communities with Edinburgh, Glasgow, Perth, Dundee and Aberdeen.

•

Phase 2 2024-25 (indicative): Procurement for a new fleet of trains for rural routes.

•

Phase 3 2025-26 (indicative): Procurement for a new fleet of intercity trains to connect the central belt with Aberdeen and Inverness.