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.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Saturday September 28, @07:03PM (6 children)
I suppose all the submarines will just settle to the bottom of the ocean. https://www.cnet.com/science/royal-navy-goes-with-windows-for-subs/ [cnet.com]
Of course, that was 2008. Maybe they've upgraded to a Unix-like by now.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 3, Informative) by turgid on Saturday September 28, @08:06PM
When my dad was a university student, in his summer holidays he used to work in the ship yards. Once he got to work on a submarine being built. I think he got to install brass nameplates or something. There was one cabin in the sub that was locked closed and no one was allowed to enter except two very special members of the crew, the captain and someone else. This cabin was top secret. It contained.... the ship's computer!
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 3, Touché) by pTamok on Saturday September 28, @10:54PM (2 children)
Apparently, the Chinese have the Brits beaten on sinking submarines:
BBC: China nuclear sub sank in its dock, US officials say [bbc.com]
(Score: 1) by Runaway1956 on Sunday September 29, @12:09AM
I saw that headline a couple days ago. I'm really curious how they managed to do that. Of course, it will be blamed on some lowly seaman, and officers will be blameless. Some chief petty officer might catch a scolding.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 29, @06:14PM
Can't they just fill it with ping pong balls to raise it back up?
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 29, @12:15AM (1 child)
What, were you expecting screen doors?
(Score: 1) by Runaway1956 on Sunday September 29, @01:07AM
They might prefer some new tires.
https://www.amazon.com/Ship-Flat-Tire-Todd-Hunt/dp/B000HUBKU2 [amazon.com]
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 4, Touché) by khallow on Saturday September 28, @09:52PM (10 children)
The scale of this is amazing. And Fujitsu still has the contract despite the scale of the problem being known for ten years?
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 29, @12:12AM (4 children)
The "scale" of what? It's strictly business. You think they talk or even care about "justice"? And the Post Office, sounds like they are the real guilty party in all aspects, and I'll speculate that the management team remains intact. Some civil suits against those branch managers are still ongoing.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by khallow on Monday September 30, @03:04AM (3 children)
Think about it. I gather the number of wrongly convictions are several percent of the population of postal branch managers - which isn't an economically disadvantaged group of people. That's convictions. The number of people wrongly accused would be considerably larger. So why are they going along with this abuse?
It's not about justice. It's about people with the power to fight back. Yet they choose not to.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 01, @03:40AM (2 children)
None of that is Fujitsu's fault. Post office management and the prosecutors are to blame for the entire affair.
Yeah, we saw that in their recent election results. All the same people are still in charge. Eh, life trudges on...
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday October 01, @10:06AM (1 child)
Perhaps. Fujitsu's people would be routinely involved in such illegal prosecutions. I bet some blame will stick to them.
Ah, you're the "voter is to blame" idiot. Carry on.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 01, @05:52PM
:-) Prove they aren't, and I won't call you an idiot
(Score: 3, Interesting) by driverless on Sunday September 29, @01:36AM
A friend of mine's lawyer wife once wrote a penalty clause into a government-contractor's contract, apparently the first time anyone had ever bothered doing this. It ended up bankrupting the contractor, and was never done again.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Unixnut on Sunday September 29, @01:21PM (3 children)
Well to me it seems UK government contracts are traditionally awarded based on political loyalty, amount of lobbying and opportunities for kick-backs. If out of that something was produced that actually works or some benefit to the taxpayers occurs then it was more by accident then intent.
In fact we just had a general election that swiped away the old government and brought in a completely new one. Just in time the old contracts expire, allowing the new governments politicians, friends families, etc... to insert themselves into the money stream for their benefit over the next few years at least.
Cynical? Perhaps, a lifetime living in the UK will do that to you :-)
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 29, @06:09PM (2 children)
I see no need to single out the UK. Humans are pretty much the same all over the world, no interest in correcting the problem, just looking for a piece of the action
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Unixnut on Monday September 30, @09:21AM (1 child)
I single out the UK as that is the only place I know well, I can't comment on the rest of the world. When I lived in France it seemed less corrupt, but perhaps I just had not lived there long enough to see the same problems unfold.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by janrinok on Monday September 30, @12:26PM
I have lived in France for almost 18 years now and I have to agree with you. I am not saying that there is no corruption at all but it certainly seems to be far less than I have witnessed in other countries in which I have lived.
More commonplace is the government here turning a blind eye when French companies bend or break the rules when competing with foreign companies. If it reaches the front pages then they will take action but otherwise they seem to 'not know' that it is happening. When French companies are caught out most of the local population seem genuinely surprised and disappointed in that company.
I am not interested in knowing who people are or where they live. My interest starts and stops at our servers.