Taxpayer value from government contracts
Challenges in ensuring taxpayers gain from government contracts, requiring improved market testing and transparency of KPIs.
1,035 items
8 sources
2 inquiries
Strongest theme matches
Mixed across source types and ranked by classifier confidence plus text match strength.
Committee recommendation
100match
#6 - Seventeenth Report - Government’s contracts with Randox Laboratories Ltd
The Department did not do enough work to determine whether Randox was making excess profits from its contracts with Randox. Randox’s published accounts do not yet cover the entire period of the contracts we considered, but they already show how Randox has substantially increased its profits and expanded its business since the start of the pandemic. Randox reported...
Matched on
terms: contract, government
Committee recommendation
95match
#9 - Untested business models and contracts expose taxpayers to huge CCUS programme costs
Given the scale of the funding announced for the first five projects and the size of the contingent liabilities that the Department has recognised for its underwriting of the programme, the potential costs to taxpayers and consumers are huge. The Department intends to manage the risks through a series of business models that it has developed for each...
Matched on
terms: contract, government, taxpayer
Committee recommendation
90match
#6 - Design a detailed commercial construct for cross-government digital technology procurement.
Government is underestimating how difficult it will be to consolidate its buying power centrally when procuring digital technology across government, in a way that will give it maximum leverage. Spending over £14 billion annually on digital technology suppliers gives government considerable buying power and the potential to make deals that benefit the taxpayer. Historically, government has sought to...
Matched on
terms: contract, government, taxpayer
Committee recommendation
87match
#5 - Detail how AI sourcing framework will ensure value and competition for government procurement.
DSIT and Cabinet Office have a long way to go to strengthen government’s approach to digital procurement to ensure value for money and a thriving AI supplier market. The technology market is rapidly evolving with a shift from upfront capital purchases to subscription–based models, and greater consolidation of the supply chain. Technology suppliers, charities and academics have raised...
Matched on
terms: government, value
Committee recommendation
86match
#19 - Home Office large asylum sites programme suffered poor value for money and significant failures.
In May 2024, the previous Public Accounts Committee reported on the Home Office’s development of alternative asylum accommodation to hotels, including large sites at Scampton and Wethersfield, the Bibby Stockholm vessel, and former student accommodation in Huddersfield. The Committee found that the Home Office’s value for money assessments of the large sites fell short of reality and risked...
Matched on
terms: government, taxpayer, value
Committee recommendation
86match
#18 - Ensure realistic market sale price for Northeye site if government decides to resell it.
The contract for the Northeye acquisition contained conditions that meant that the longer it took the Home Office to complete the purchase beyond a six–week timeframe, the more money it would pay. The National Audit Office reported that despite these terms being questioned by some of the Home Office’s advisers, those leading the purchase felt that the terms...
Matched on
terms: contract, government
Committee recommendation
86match
#20 - Bilateral Drax agreement raises value-for-money concerns due to high subsidy rates.
Despite the new terms of the agreement, there are risks that the support will not offer consumers value for money. The agreement was reached through bilateral negotiations with Drax and included no element of competition.56 While the government claims that the new arrangements will reduce consumer subsidies to Drax, it will be paid £113 per megawatt hour (in...
Matched on
terms: contract, government, value
Committee recommendation
86match
#34 - Ineffective NATIS contract terminated after costing £38.5m for only 14 convictions.
On 15 May 2025 the Minister for Services, Small Business and Exports issued a statement announcing that the Department will not renew the contract with NATIS, instead the Insolvency Service will take over the remaining casework.54 In the accompanying press release the Department confirmed that the decision to appoint NATIS has cost the taxpayer approximately £38.5m, resulting in...
Matched on
terms: contract, government, taxpayer
Committee recommendation
81match
#26 - Fourth Report - Defence in Scotland: military shipbuilding
The MOD should set out how it evaluates social value in competitions, how it measures the delivery of social value in the contracts it negotiates, and how it holds contractors accountable to ensure they meet those targets. It should also, as contracts progress, track the delivery of social value and challenge contractors where targets are in danger of...
Matched on
terms: contract, government, value
Committee recommendation
81match
#2 - Set out changes to ensure Home Office investment decisions use comprehensive information and transparent consultation
In its haste to purchase the Northeye site, the Home Office ignored opportunities to properly understand the risks and costs of developing it, leading to poor value for money for the taxpayer. The Home Office asserts it did a “fair amount” of due diligence before acquiring the Northeye 4 site, but the NAO highlighted significant shortcomings. The Home...
Matched on
terms: contract, government, taxpayer, value
Committee recommendation
78match
#14 - Home Office awarded major accommodation site contracts without full competition, citing urgency.
We asked the Home Office why it had not submitted to competition five of the contracts relating to the new sites, worth £243 million of the £253 million it had spent through contracts. The Home Office told us that it used framework agreements for some 18 Q 159; HM Treasury, Dear Accounting Officer Letter – Parliamentary Communications, 16...
Matched on
terms: contract, government
Committee recommendation
78match
#21 - Government AI procurement processes remain ill-suited to dynamic technology markets.
In its January 2025 State of digital government review, DSIT reported that government procurement processes had not adapted to the changing nature of the technology market, which has seen a shift from upfront capital purchases to subscription–based models, and greater consolidation of the supply chain.51 Written evidence we received from technology suppliers, third–sector bodies and academics raised concerns...
Matched on
terms: government, value
Committee recommendation
78match
#33 - Government's fragmented cloud buying approach limits potential commercial leverage and benefits
Government has made attempts to co–ordinate in order to gain benefits from its scale. GCF has signed agreements with the major cloud providers which allow them to treat the public sector as a single customer for the purposes of determining volume discounts.56 However, DSIT recognised that government’s current approach to buying cloud was fragmented and “is not right”....
Matched on
terms: contract, government
Committee recommendation
77match
#4 - Assess new nature restoration fund's impact using HS2 bat tunnel case study
HS2 Ltd’s efforts to reduce the environmental impact of HS2 are not delivering value for money, with the c.£100 million cost of a protective ‘bat tunnel’ more than doubling the cost of that section of railway alone. The Committee does not consider that the right balance has been struck between protecting the landscape and wildlife and the burden...
Matched on
terms: government, taxpayer, value
Committee recommendation
77match
#3 - Include clauses in Drax's transitional support agreement to prompt BECCS transition.
We are not convinced the transitional support agreement between DESNZ and Drax provides good value for money for consumers. Government announced in February 2025 that it had agreed heads of terms for a deal to support Drax that will run from 2027 to 2031. The new support package means Drax will only be supported to operate for a...
Matched on
terms: contract, government, value
NAO recommendation
77match
The government’s approach to test and trace in England – interim report
f) take account to the maximum extent possible of value for money and normal commercial good practice as it procures new infrastructure and services. In particular, it needs to have sufficient flexibility in future contracts to allow government and contractors to respond effectively to changing requirements at reasonable cost; and
Matched on
terms: contract, government, value
Committee recommendation
74match
#3 - Report progress on HS2 contract renegotiations and plans for achieving cost savings
HS2 Ltd’s construction contracts are unacceptable to the public purse and it is imperative that HS2 Ltd deliver on its assurances to us that it can renegotiate these and deliver significant cost savings. The terms and operation of these contracts provide extremely poor value for money. HS2 Ltd did not heed the warnings that the previous Public Accounts...
Matched on
terms: contract, value
Committee recommendation
74match
#31 - Government's buying power is hindered by lack of reliable future digital procurement demand forecasts.
The Cabinet Office is responsible for maximising the buying power of the state. We therefore asked the Cabinet Office how government could negotiate volume discounts with large suppliers or cloud suppliers, or aggregated contracts, without data on the expected future demand which GCF has been unable to do in the past. DSIT recognised that the data “gets weaker...
Matched on
terms: contract, government
Committee recommendation
69match
#20 - Home Office prioritised speed over assurance when acquiring large asylum accommodation sites.
We asked the Home Office why, despite spending large sums of public money on these large sites, many of them did not achieve the expected benefits. It explained that both the previous and current government had strategies to exit hotel accommodation for asylum seekers.63 The Home Office explained that the urgency behind its actions stemmed from a significant...
Matched on
terms: contract, government
NAO recommendation
69match
Investigation into government procurement during the COVID-19 pandemic
Awarding bodies should publish basic information on contracts in a reasonable time, in line with guidance to publish within 90 days of award. Transparency is one of the key controls to mitigate the risks associated with emergency direct awards. Therefore, during these types of situation, it is critical that basic information on contract awards is published as soon...
Matched on
terms: contract, government
Committee recommendation
66match
#19 - Home Office contracts for migrant accommodation lack specified penalties for safeguarding failures.
The Home Office told us that health and welfare of migrants was “baked into” the way that it runs the sites and the contracts with suppliers. It said there were clear key performance indicators (KPIs) on accommodation being safe and habitable and that the providers have welfare teams on site. However, the National Audit Office reported that the...
Matched on
terms: contract
Committee recommendation
66match
#15 - Large accommodation sites projected more costly than hotels, challenging value for money claims.
We asked the Home Office whether it was still satisfied that it was getting value for money, given the costs of the accommodation and the fact that capacity was much lower than anticipated. The Home Office’s latest assessment of value for money from January 2024 suggests that, in total, large accommodation sites will cost £46 million more than...
Matched on
terms: value
Committee recommendation
66match
#32 - Government faces limited choice and high switching costs in concentrated technology market
GCF explained that government has historically sought to exercise buying power through competition between technology suppliers. Increasingly, the technology market is being dominated by a small number of very large suppliers. We observed that moving between digital suppliers, particularly cloud providers, is not something to be undertaken lightly because the change can be very expensive, complex and disruptive....
Matched on
terms: government
Committee recommendation
65match
#4 - Fortieth Report - COVID employment support schemes
HMRC’s decision to close the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce in 2023–24 puts at risk the recovery of taxpayers’ money paid out as a result of error and fraud. In April 2021, HMRC set up the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce as a dedicated team of over 1,000 staff to increase its recovery of overpayments on the COVID-19 employment support schemes and...
Matched on
terms: government, taxpayer
Committee recommendation
65match
#9 - Rwanda migration scheme cancelled after £715 million spent without removals.
In July 2024, the government announced the cancellation of the Migration and Economic Development Partnership with Rwanda (MEDP).21 We noted that nobody had been removed under the scheme, and the Department told us that there were no flights under the scheme other than for four voluntary 12 Q 4 13 Qq 4, 6 14 C&AG’s Report, para 1.3...
Matched on
terms: contract, government
NAO recommendation
64match
Improving the performance of major equipment contracts
c) The Department should be prepared to penalise suppliers for past poor performance when letting new contracts. While the Department is doing more to improve working relationships with suppliers, there remains the challenge of what to do if suppliers fail to deliver. In the government green paper on procurement it is proposing to make it easier to exclude...
Matched on
terms: contract, government
Committee recommendation
62match
#17 - Home Office lacked oversight of contracted property staff, incurring additional Northeye costs.
In April 2021, the Home Office contracted staff who had previously worked under the Ministry of Justice’s property function to provide in-house expertise in commercial property transactions. From August 2022, the contracted staff managed the acquisition of the Home Office’s interests in the Northeye site.49 The National Audit Office reported that the Home Office did not put in...
Matched on
terms: contract
Committee recommendation
62match
#19 - HS2 Ltd is seeking to renegotiate unproductive civil construction contracts for better risk allocation.
HS2 Ltd told us that it is now seeking to renegotiate these contracts.32 It considers that the current contracts are unproductive and that reset provides the opportunity for a fair allocation of risk and an opportunity to find different ways of commercially incentivising the outcomes that it wants, rather than the ones that it is getting at the...
Matched on
terms: contract
Committee recommendation
62match
#18 - HS2 Ltd acknowledges suboptimal contract risk management contributed to a £6 billion cost increase.
HS2 Ltd acknowledged that it has not managed these contract risks in an optimal or coherent way.30 In September 2023, HS2 Ltd estimated that the forecast cost of main civil construction work alone had increased by £6 billion (2019 prices) since 2020.31 27 Q 35; Department for Transport, HS2 6-monthly report to Parliament: December 2024, 17 December 2024...
Matched on
terms: contract
Committee recommendation
62match
#16 - HS2 Ltd revised Phase 1 construction contracts in 2020, increasing its liability for cost overruns.
In July 2017, HS2 Ltd let contracts with four joint venture companies for the main civil construction work on Phase 1. However, in 2020, once the cost of building the railway became clearer, it revised the terms of the contracts in an attempt to ensure an affordable programme at that time. Contractors would no longer be liable for...
Matched on
terms: contract
Committee recommendation
62match
#23 - Government is improving efforts to leverage public sector buying power for digital services.
The State of digital government review reported that government is not doing enough to ensure the public sector benefits from the scale of its buying power.56 The Cabinet Office and DSIT told us they are working to tackle this, giving as an example a recent agreement reached with 48 Q 15 49 Q 41 50 Q 29 51...
Matched on
terms: government
Committee recommendation
62match
#2 - Ensure PwC delivers full loan system functionality by September 2025 and prepare for contract end.
The Department’s management of its contract with PwC has been poor. The Department originally appointed PwC to advise on options for the management of its loans. After PwC identified the need for a managed service provider, the Department appointed PwC to this position after a competition, with a contract running to March 2025. The Department subsequently expanded PwC’s...
Matched on
terms: contract
Committee recommendation
61match
#16 - Department lacks complete overview and accurate data on industry support spending
The Department does not have a complete overview or accurate data on what it, and wider government, spends on supporting industry. The Department found it difficult to readily provide the NAO with a breakdown of its support for industry. It does not routinely categorise the composition of its support, for example by sector or support type, and it...
Matched on
terms: government
Committee recommendation
57match
#6 - Set out use of additional £110 million funding for counter-fraud to reduce overpayments.
Excluding State Pension, £9.5 billion of benefit expenditure was overpaid in 2023–24 and DWP did not achieve its savings target from Targeted Case Reviews. Excluding State Pension, DWP estimates that it overpaid a total of 6.7% (£9.5 billion) in 2023–24, up from 6.6% (£8.2 billion) in 2022–23, meaning many claimants received more money than they were entitled to....
Matched on
terms: government
Committee recommendation
57match
#5 - Set out how to ensure data and capability for informed technology supplier spending decisions.
Government’s ability to get the best deals with technology suppliers is being hampered by its lack of knowledge of what it is spending or its future needs. Government estimates that it spends over £14 billion each year on digital commercial activity. But it cannot say for certain as it has no central record of this spending. Government also...
Matched on
terms: government
IMB recommendation
56match
Bristol (2025)
Are there plans to review the lengths of contract given to prison food providers that would allow for more flexibility in securing best value and quality, and thereby better use of the public purse?
Matched on
terms: contract, value
NAO recommendation
56match
Whole of Government Accounts 2017-18
As recommended previously, the Treasury should examine how it can: • provide more granular information on government spending, particularly around the purchase of goods and services • explain the sensitivity of the value of significant assets to changes in assumptions in the way it does for significant liabilities.
Matched on
terms: government, value
IMB recommendation
55match
Whitemoor (2021)
Will the prison service please review its approach to securing value for money in contracts for building works? Yet again a refurbishment project (this time of the main kitchen at Whitemoor) has been delayed by sub-contractors passing work from company to company until the job reached a firm whose staff did not have the necessary security clearance; the...
Matched on
terms: contract, value
Committee recommendation
53match
#14 - Sixth Report - Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme
Whilst we have called for the 50:50 split to be replaced with a more appropriate arrangement moving forward, we believe pensioners should also receive a more immediate uplift. We recommend that the Government hands the £1.2bn it is due to receive from the Investment Reserve back to miners, and sets out its proposals for how and when this...
Matched on
terms: government
Committee recommendation
53match
#5 - Fortieth Report - COVID employment support schemes
We are concerned that in the absence of effective criminal and civil sanctions there is little incentive for those who overclaimed COVID-19 employment support to make repayments. Despite the billions of pounds lost in error and fraud, HMRC has taken little action to punish culprits. It asserts that it limits its criminal investigations to the most serious cases...
Matched on
terms: value
Committee recommendation
53match
#29 - DWP overpaid £9.5 billion in benefits, with fraud accounting for the majority of overpayments.
Excluding State Pension, DWP estimates that it overpaid a total of 6.7% (£9.5 billion) of benefit expenditure in 2023–24, up from 6.6% (£8.2 billion) in 2022–23.58 Fraud—where DWP considers that a claimant should reasonably have been aware that they were receiving money they were not entitled to—accounted for most of the overpayments (£7.3 billion).59 Two–thirds of all overpayments...
Matched on
terms: value
Committee recommendation
53match
#21 - Home Office culture normalised emergency operations, weakening approval processes for asylum accommodation sites.
We were concerned about a prevailing culture within the Home Office that normalises operating in an emergency and led it to weaken approval processes when acquiring large sites like Northeye. Moreover, it has often appeared that the Home Office has prioritised appearing to address the issue of asylum accommodation over value for money and the effective implementation of...
Matched on
terms: value
Committee recommendation
53match
#8 - Home Office spent millions on multiple abandoned or problematic large asylum sites.
In 2023, the Home Office was acquiring several large asylum accommodation sites at the same time, including the Bibby Stokholm vessel in Dorset and the former RAF base in Scampton, Lincolnshire.16 The Home Office has spent more than £34 million on the Bibby Stockholm vessel, which will be not be used after January 2025.17 In April 2024, the...
Matched on
terms: value
Committee recommendation
53match
#10 - Public procurement policy must align with industrial strategy to incentivise investment and innovation.
Public procurement if used effectively is amongst the most important tools to drive the industrial strategy. However, for this to be the case, the Government needs to ensure that procurement policy joined at the hip with the industrial strategy and wider growth mission. The Government needs to procure in ways that incentivise private sector investment, encourage innovation and...
Matched on
terms: government
Committee recommendation
53match
#33 - Department lacks clarity on recovered BBLS fraud losses and recovery methods.
We wrote to the Department, following our evidence session on 7 April, to obtain greater clarity on the value of losses to fraud that have since been recovered. We specifically requested the value of losses recovered which were incurred due to suspected fraud within the BBLS. We requested that this be split by method of recovery, distinguishing between...
Matched on
terms: value
NAO recommendation
51match
Managing tax debt through the pandemic
HMRC needs to improve its understanding of customers to be able to support them and target activity appropriately. HMRC should do the following: f) Use a wider range of data to better understand how taxpayers’ financial positions have changed as a result of the pandemic. HMRC holds a rich source of data from taxes, but some lags significantly...
Matched on
terms: government, taxpayer
IMB recommendation
48match
Brinsford (2023)
The New heating system has many flaws, caused by an inadequate contract between suppliers & fitters and the MOJ. It has cost further thousands of pounds onto the original cost, all paid for by the public purse.
Matched on
terms: contract
NAO recommendation
48match
Lessons learned: competition in public procurement
Set out how it currently uses the information and explore how it can the use the range of data collected on individual contracts to analyse competitive trends in markets and use this to support its work.
Matched on
terms: contract
NAO recommendation
47match
Progress with delivering the Emergency Services Network
ensures that the new network infrastructure contract has sufficient mechanisms and incentives to establish effective relationships and ensure value for money within this contract period, while supporting a wider strategy for how the Home Office will avoid being locked into one supplier in the future
Matched on
terms: contract, value
IMB recommendation
47match
Aylesbury (2023)
Actively monitor and hold accountable third-party contractors to ensure value for money and the best service delivery for Aylesbury, particularly in relation to health and education contracts which are so vital to positive outcomes.
Matched on
terms: contract, value