Smell the glove

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Millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money is being wasted by officials who overpay private firms to do the simplest tasks like installing a new electric socket or replacing a lock, the National Audit Office reveals today.

An investigation into £180m of public money spent renegotiating private finance initiative contracts to build and run hospitals, schools, prisons and courts in 2006 reveals 10-fold differences in payments for similar tasks. With PFI being Gordon Brown’s favourite way to fund new public projects - it now accounts for £44bn of public spending - the NAO is calling for much tighter controls over any changes to the contracts, which often run for 30 years or more.

The report cites Royal Blackburn Hospital as the best and worst example of saving and wasting public money. It qualifies for the cheapest and most expensive cost for replacing a key - £4.26 to £47.48. It also qualifies for the most expensive bill to fit a data point - £398.30 - and the most expensive lock change - £486.54. The cheapest lock fitting was in Calderdale Royal Hospital in Halifax at £30.81. The cost of supplying and fitting electric sockets varied from £302.30 in schools in the Wirral to £30.81 in schools in Kirklees.

‘We spend more on cows than the poor.’[1]

[1]Gordon Brown


Posted on January 17th, 2008 at 3:00 am

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2 Comments

  1. Michael on 17.01.2008 at 06:57 Permalink | Reply

    Takes two to tango in the PFI moneytrough - the incompetent civil servants who negotiated the contracts with PFI companies, and the rapacious, utterly immoral companies themselves who get away with overcharging and loss externalisation that wouldn`t be tolerated for a second were their contracts with another private sector firm.

  2. sim-o on 17.01.2008 at 08:02 Permalink | Reply

    But then if these companies weren’t maximizing their profits, they would be breaking the law, as their first responsibilty is to their shareholders.

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