Government slammed for focus on lowest price bids

Grant Prior 6 years ago
Share

The government has been slammed for prioritising cost rather than quality when it comes to outsourcing and contracting.

A damning report from the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee in the wake of Carillion’s collapse said found “government’s overriding priority for outsourcing is spending as little money as possible while forcing contractors to take unacceptable levels of financial risk.”

It also blasted government for getting its numbers wrong when awarding deals.

The committee said: “This approach has been made more damaging by the fact that the information the government uses to inform the outsourcing process can be either incomplete or simply incorrect.

“The government must be aware of this: it has written contracts that force contractors to pay out when it gets its own data wrong and has been known to forego performance penalties in the initial phases of contracts.”

The report attacks the whole outsourcing process and PFI contracts.

The committee said: “Contractors told us that the government was known to prioritise cost over all other factors in procurements, driving prices down to below the cost of the services they were asking firms to provide.

“Worse, the government was unable to provide significant evidence for the basic assertion behind outsourcing: that it provides better services for less public money, or a rationale for why or how it decides to outsource a service.

“This was especially true for PFI. Shockingly, the Government admitted to the Committee that the “entire PFI structure is to keep the debt of the balance sheet.”

Chair of PACAC, Sir Bernard Jenkin MP, said: “It is staggering that the Government has attempted to push risks that it does not understand onto contractors, and has so misunderstood its costs.

“It has accepted bids below what it costs to provide the service, so that the contract has had to be renegotiated.

“The Carillion crisis itself was well-managed, but it could happen again unless lessons are learned about risk and contract management and the strengths and weaknesses of the sector.

“The government must use this moment as an opportunity to learn how to effectively manage its contracts and relationship with the market.”

Latest news

Police ban mobile cranes from roads over Easter

Plant hire bosses livid as forces across the country extend abnormal load embargoes
20 hours ago

Director jailed for exposing workers to asbestos

Ten tonnes of asbestos insulating board stripped out by unqualified workers
1 day ago

Site labour rates start rising again

Industry's biggest payroll firm says "it feels like things could be turning round"
1 day ago

Council finds extra £33m for Buckinghamshire link road

South East Aylesbury Link Road costs soar by nearly 30% to £147m
1 day ago

Quartet win £490m North West & Central railway works deal

Skanska, Kier, Octavius Infrastructure and Story Contracting bag major projects deal
1 day ago

Unite Students plans first major mixed-use scheme

Developer's first mixed BTR and PBSA project to be built in Edinburgh
2 days ago

Galliford Try names new finance director

Rentokil's Kris Hampson joins contractor to replace Andrew Duxbury
1 day ago

Council boss hits out at bat threat to £274m road job

Natural England could scupper scheme due to be built by Ferrovial
1 day ago

Hydrogen-fuelled diggers to be allowed onto highways

Government to raise barrier to widespread use of hydrogen fuelled plant in construction
2 days ago

Plans in for £118m Government hub in Darlington

Work pencilled to start later this year on new home for 1,450 civil servants
2 days ago

New contractor highlights Henry Construction jobs on website

New firm lists jobs by failed contractor to show its experience
2 days ago

Contractors line up for £2.6bn Anglian Water AMP8 deal

Eight big names land places on pioneering @one Alliance
3 days ago

McAleer & Rushe bags first major later living project

Work to start this month on 167-flat Royal Tunbridge Wells project
2 days ago

Kier starts first all-electric prison houseblock job in Kent

Next-generation fully electric T60 prison houseblock to be built at HMP Elmley
2 days ago

Keepmoat sees better times ahead in housing market

Profits dip in 2023 despite construction of record number of new homes
2 days ago

Vistry signs partnership deals for 1,900 mixed tenure homes

West Sussex former airfield and Newmarket sites to break ground
3 days ago

Turnover at Wates tops £2bn for first time

Construction division exceeds £1bn turnover as average contract value hits record high of £48.3m
3 days ago

L&G looks to sell Cala Homes in exit from house building

Insurance giant reported to be preparing to offload 3,000 homes-a-year developer
4 days ago

Multiplex profit almost trebles as margin hits 5.5%

Revenue jumps 20% to £675m as big London scheme complete
3 days ago

TopHat puts plans to open huge Corby factory on hold

Advanced manufacturing facility was due to employ 1,000 people
3 days ago

Laing O’Rourke lands Calderdale hospital job

Enabling works to start by the end of this year at West Yorkshire site
3 days ago

Go-ahead for £475m Sunderland film and TV studios

Work to start this year on first phase Corwn Work studios
3 days ago

Willmott Dixon set for £20m Stockport Community Hub

Planning decision expected in June on Marple leisure and health clinic project
3 days ago

Police hunt for blundering dumper truck thief

Raider drove into a fence before getting stuck on a bank
3 days ago

Beattie Passive files administration notice

Passivhaus pioneer has been in business for more than ten years
4 days ago

McAlpine set for £50m space and tech centre

Northumbria Uni sign pre-con deal for new satellite research hub
4 days ago

VolkerFitzpatrick seals £34m Kent road viaduct

Work to start next year on Sturry Link Road near Canterbury
4 days ago

Eight win £600m Scottish civil engineering framework

Balfour, Farrans, Graham and Morgan Sindall win major works lot
4 days ago

Site engineer crushed to death by excavator

22-year-old victim died just months after graduating from university
6 days ago

NG Bailey fined £135,000 after hospital site death

Worker died after striking overhead beam while navigating a mobile elevating work platform
7 days ago

Contractor services