Questions Without Notice from the Party Leaders

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:55 pm on 16 January 2018.

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Photo of Mr Neil Hamilton Mr Neil Hamilton UKIP 1:55, 16 January 2018

Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. The First Minister will agree with me that in order to secure value for money in public contracts, it is desirable that there should be a reasonable spread of credible bidders. It wasn't entirely clear to me from the answer that the finance Secretary gave to Adam Price earlier what the legal impact is going to be of the collapse of Carillion in relation to Abellio's bid. There are only three bidders in the contest at the moment. If Abellio is removed from it, that means, of course, that there are only two bids. What are the implications of this for that general principle of securing value for money by having credible competition for these big contracts? This is a contract that affects not just the Wales and borders rail franchise, but also the electrification of the Valleys lines as part of the metro project, and this contract will be let for 15 years. So, it has long-term consequences. I wonder if the First Minister could give us a little more clarification on this point.