16For sections 26A, 26B and 26C of the 1993 Act (directions of the Secretary of State where no tenders or tenders appear unsatisfactory) substitute—
(1)This section applies in the case of an invitation to tender under section 26 for the provision of services if—
(a)the appropriate franchising authority receives no tender in response to the invitation; or
(b)it receives a tender but considers that the services would be provided more economically and efficiently if they were provided otherwise than under a franchise agreement entered into in response to the tender.
(2)The appropriate franchising authority may —
(a)issue a new invitation to tender under section 26 for the provision of the services;
(b)decide to secure the provision of the services under a franchise agreement with a person who did not submit a tender; or
(c)decide not to seek to secure the provision of the services under a franchise agreement.
(3)Nothing in this section prevents the appropriate franchising authority, where it has decided not to seek to secure the provision of services under a franchise agreement, from subsequently making a decision to issue a new invitation to tender for the provision of those services.”