To think that taxpayers should know about civil service procurement contracts

[Atlanticwinds]

This topic has always made me so uncomfortable and extremely annoyed but today I nearly lost the plot. I’m a civil servant working in a department that deals with public protection. The government sends us millions every year to run the “business” including salaries, housing of the service users, food, healthcare, personal development…etc. We’re a small department made of 4 middle managers and are given less than £7000 per year to use on providing good service and support. This is nowhere near enough and we’re always waiting for the next financial year. We spend hours per month shopping around to make sure that we spend that funding wisely and our service users benefit from it as much as possible, however many times the budget approver declines the purchase request because we are using a different provider than the ones we’re contracted with. They won’t let us buy anything from anyone else as apparently they will be fined. The contractors charge stupidly high prices and definitely aren’t good value for money.

Last week we submitted a request for 150 units from online sellers at a total cost of £1355. This is just under £10 per unit which is brilliant and it means our service users will have the items before Christmas and we still have some more money to spend on other things. The approver declined the purchase and asked us to use the contracted provider charging £27.50 per the SAME unit which is totalling £4125 and £20 delivery fee (the cheek of it!!). We are deflated and feel so let down by this corrupt system as this means that we can only buy for 54 service users and the rest will have to wait until the next budget is received next May.

Our service users are mainly people from very deprived backgrounds, with complex mental health issues, traumas and addictions. How can you keep on making cuts to save money and yet sign contracts with wealthy businesses that are constantly salivating over profits? AIBU to think that these contracts should end and we should be allowed to shop around given the tight budgets that we’re given?

Write to the Treasury. Write to Rachel Reeves.

Explain the situation but emphasise if this is happening all over the CS the waste is enormous.

I can't help although I'd be happy to pen a letter to RR.if you would.like me too saying I've heard this is happening and ask her to investigate so she can change the policy and save a fortune.

This is widespread across the public sector but no one’s ever been able to explain why the state gets such a bad deal?

You haven't explained this clearly enough

Yep, I ordered the cheapest computer mouse available, £9.95, then a £20 delivery fee was charged, and this was delivered by bog standard Royal mail delivery. The waste is shocking.

If you think that’s bad don’t look into contractors and supply chains for the NHS!!! No wonder it’s struggling, all the money goes to lining high managements pockets and all their greedy friends who charge ridiculous prices for the contracts.

£18.00 for a pack of latex gloves, the hospital goes through thousands a year, you can pick them up from Amazon cheaper!!! Money is just given to everyone else at the detriment of the NHS and the patients it’s supposed to protect, using tax payers money. It’s disgusting.

That’s a great suggestion! I will write to her but not sure what she can do as there are so many contracts signed regionally. They might say that they have no authority over it as they trust the governors and procurement managers to use their due diligence before signing the contracts.

Corruption? I can’t find any other explanation…

Something doesn’t add up here, we need more info. I’ve been a civil servant so know procurement can be shocking, but there are always ways around like non catalogue purchase, creating a new supplier etc, especially for small sums (comparatively) like £7k. Why is the budget for your team so small? Why do you not have people above you/managers who can challenge that kind of decision and support doing something sensible.

To be honest the unit cost difference is scandalous, but £4k versus £1k is not going to break the department, so it may not be worth the hassle/time/expense of sourcing the cheaper item as a one off as bad as that sounds.

if you are a manager… where’s your business case/financial analysis? Use this as a way to increase your budget for future years

Sorry but what is it exactly that isn’t clear?

Shocking! How could they justify this?

My friend is a midwife and tells me about the waste and overpriced items. It’s astonishing that it’s blatantly been happening for decades!

It would help if you explained the rationale behind approved suppliers.

I don’t think anyone can really grasp why you can’t buy from anywhere at all.

I know what you mean (I'm also in civil service) but the specific suppliers/contractors on the roster I deal with have been vetted to ensure they are ethical, aren't using slave Labour or polluting the environment. So we could get stuff cheaper elsewhere but should we be? Not sure if that applies to your situation, just saying that's ours.

I’m sorry I don’t follow this at all. Presumably the supplier contracts are for more than just the supply of (whatever item you’re referring to). Generally contracts would be expected to secure better value overall than if you bought the nation’s consumables off the open market. Plus there are public procurement rules.

Four middle managers to handle a budget of £7,000 aren't at least three of you redundant? Surely your salaries should be used for the good causes? I guess the salaries are 10 x the budget.

Senior managers will always refuse to challenge or intervene as the business manager is a flipping witch who shouts “What? do you want us to get fined?” at anyone who says please can we use a cheaper alternative. The budget we’re given is all they can allocate us as apparently they overspend on other things and service users could use other pots, which never happens as that money gets spent on more stupid external speakers and insanely expensive purchases. I’m not joking but they ordered table tennis table for nearly £9000 when the equivalent quality is less than £300. Absolutely shocking!

I imagine that the procurement process is run in line with procurement compliance guidelines and all your contacted suppliers are vetted to ensure that they meet certain standards . The procurement team will send out invitations to tender and then select from whichever suppliers respond. However it sounds as if there is a marked difference between the price you pay and the price at which the product is freely available on the open market, so definitely worth asking the procurement team when this contract is next due for review. Escalate if you don't get a sensible response

Sometimes just putting concerns in a well written balanced email can be enough to prompt some action.

Neither can I. But that’s the truth.

I’m not sure sourcing things ethically means that the price should triple? Those providers are selling the same items with the same branding and same colours as Amazon or other catalog retailers. But way more expensive.

You would think so …

Write to your MP and copy in Rachel Reeves, asking your MP to speak to RR about it - Members of Parliament are supposed to be your point of contact with government and a request via your MP gets more attention.

Sorry I don’t get your point? My salary is nowhere near 10 times the budget

You're tilting at windmills @Atlanticwinds

Ha just noticed your username OP. You should harness it. I expect to see a complete overhaul of government procurement in the next 6 months.

I will do so very soon … but people who worked there for decades are laughing at us for being annoyed! They say it will never change so just submit another request with their suggested price as you’re getting nowhere.

Is your whole departmental budget £7k? I’m assuming you have other parts of your job, otherwise 4 people managing such a small budget makes zero sense…