Over £20B In UK Govt It Contracts To Expire Soon. What Next?
Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:
UK government IT contracts worth 23.4 billion are due to end during the current five-year Parliament, according to researchers who warn that poor performing suppliers are hardly ever excluded from bidding again.
A report by public spending research company Tussell and the Institute for Government found that a third of these, worth 9 billion, are supposed to finish up in 2025.
The report points out that large contracts expiring next year include the longstanding Post Office deal with Fujitsu to build and manage the Horizon IT system at the center of one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in the UK. From 1999 until 2015, 736 local branch managers were wrongfully convicted of fraud when errors in the system were to blame. The total value of the Horizon contract is 2.38 billion ($3.15 billion). It is due to expire on March 31, 2025.
[...] The researchers warn that poor-performing suppliers to UK government are virtually never excluded from supplying the public sector and often continue to receive government money. Meanwhile, a large number of contracts, totaling billions of pounds, are overseen by officials who are not commercial specialists.
The report also highlights that poor data across government departments meant officials didn't know how much they were spending and with whom. And new providers that could perhaps deliver better services for less money are discouraged from bidding for business.
[...] "Public procurement is a huge market hiding in plain sight, accounting for approximately one-third of all public spending and 10 percent of UK GDP," said Gus Tugendhat, founder of Tussell.
"In the context of tight budgets and strained public services, getting value for money out of government contracts is more important than ever," he said.
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