PART 3Award and modification of public service contracts
Provision of passenger transport services by a competent local authority13.
(1)
A competent local authority or a group of authorities providing integrated public passenger transport services may—
(a)
provide public passenger transport services itself, or
(b)
award a public service contract directly to an internal operator.
(2)
For the purpose of determining whether an authority exercises control over a legally distinct person which is similar to that exercised over its own departments, the following factors must be taken into account—
(a)
the degree of the authority’s representation on administrative, management or supervisory bodies;
(b)
specifications relating to the authority in the articles of association;
(c)
whether any person other than the authority exerts a decisive influence, directly or indirectly, on the activities of the person;
(d)
effective influence and control over strategic decisions and individual management decisions of the legally distinct person.
(3)
An internal operator that has been awarded a public service contract under paragraph (1)(b) and any person over which that operator exerts any influence—
(a)
must perform their public passenger transport services within the geographical area of the competent local authority, notwithstanding any ancillary elements of that activity which enter the geographical area of neighbouring competent local authorities, and
(b)
must not not take part in competitive tenders concerning the provision of public passenger transport services organised outside the geographical area of the competent local authority or authorities that control it.
(4)
Notwithstanding paragraph (3), an internal operator may participate in fair, competitive tenders, provided that—
(a)
there are 2 years or less of its directly awarded public service contract remaining,
(b)
the competent authority has taken a final decision to submit the public passenger transport services covered by the internal operator’s contract to fair competitive tender, and
(c)
the internal operator has not entered into any other directly awarded public service contract.
(5)
In the absence of a competent local authority, a competent authority with national competence may award a public service contract directly to an internal operator of that authority as if it were a competent local authority for the benefit of a geographical area which is not national, provided that the internal operator does not take part in competitive tenders concerning the provision of public passenger transport services outside the geographical area for which the public service contract has been granted.
(6)
Where an internal operator is providing the public passenger transport services, that operator must perform the major part of the public passenger transport services itself.
(7)
In this regulation, “integrated public passenger transport services” means interconnected public passenger transport services within a particular geographical area with a single information service, ticketing scheme and timetable.