UK Home Office tenders £5m for a supplier to help it greenlight IT projects. Yes, you read that correctly
- Reference: 1618827260
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/04/19/home_office_daas_tender_5m/
- Source link:
The [1]notice published in the public sector Digital Marketplace is seeking a company to help deliver and operate the "discovery-as-a-service" capability for the "Innovation - Law Enforcement" (I-LE) function within the Police and Public Protection Technology Portfolio (PPPT), with a £5m contract on the table.
[2]
The snappy moniker – DaaS – alludes to the discovery phase in the UK government's [3]IT project service manual . Discovery, it says, means learning about users and what they're trying to achieve; constraints the project faces in making changes to how the service is run because, for example, of technology or legislation; and the underlying policy intent the project is set to address and so on.
The Home Office sees the discovery phase as part of "demand management," which is procurement speak for only giving users what they really need, rather than what they want or what they say they need.
[4]
Observers will note that, without appropriate safeguards in place, the contract seemingly leaves open the possibility of the winning supplier managing the project selection process in favour of services it offers, with an inside track on the client's thinking.
One supplier working with the UK government, who asked not to be named, said it could mean the winning bidder is given the opportunity to develop a sales lead pipeline within government, putting it in the prime spot for picking up more work.
AWS tops up the Bezos rocket fund thanks to more money from Brit tax collection agency [5]READ MORE
Last year, AWS's Professional Services wing was handed a [6]£2m contract by Her Majesty's Customs and Revenue to supply consultants that would work on accelerating the adoption of AWS products and services in the British tax collection agency.
The Register also understands that Home Office insiders are aware of the possible conflicts of interest, but no safeguards have been put in place. The individual, who asked not to be named, is also concerned that the winner may have already been selected.
The Home Office said of the tender: "This will not be a sales pipeline for the winning supplier. The Demand Management process will ensure that all work meets the needs and priorities of the Home Office in the most appropriate and efficient way to deliver value for money."
It went on to insist: "All associated procurement will adhere to the public procurement policy framework, ensuring free and open competition and value for money."
The DaaS tender comes at a sensitive time for UK government procurement as the former chief commercial officer Bill Crothers, who founded the Crown Commercial Service (CCS), responsible for much of the cross-Whitehall IT spending and large government frameworks, is at the centre of a media storm over commercial lobbying in government.
It emerged last week that [7]Crothers joined Greensill Capital , a supply chain finance firm, as an adviser before he left the civil service in 2015.
He joined the firm as a director in 2016.
[8]
Former prime minister David Cameron, who worked as a special adviser to the Greensill board, is [9]alleged to have sent texts and emails to ministers while working for the company. ®
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[1] https://www.digitalmarketplace.service.gov.uk/digital-outcomes-and-specialists/opportunities/14551
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/channel&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YH2pHOkP4UlNsSrY5qRwRgAAAAA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/agile-delivery/how-the-discovery-phase-works
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/channel&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YH2pHOkP4UlNsSrY5qRwRgAAAAA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/19/aws_hmrc_contracts/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/19/aws_hmrc_contracts/
[7] https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/apr/13/civil-servant-advised-greensill-while-working-in-whitehall-says-watchdog
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/channel&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YH2pHOkP4UlNsSrY5qRwRgAAAAA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-56681939
[10] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Best choice of adviser?
> What's really needed is a non-supplier
Call Chris Grayling. His experience of finding ferry non-suppliers is tailor made for this role.
Re: Best choice of adviser?
@monty75
In all fairness I didn't say "complete arse" - I said "non-supplier", meaning someone without any vested interest in what's being supplied, but assuming competence (maybe optimistically).
Re: Best choice of adviser?
And the independent adviser recommends a course of leeches . This is has nothing to do with his posiition on the board of Leechs'R'Us.
possible conflicts of interest, but no safeguards have been put in place
Reading this weekend about all the oinking currently going on at the financial trough in government and elsewhere, one could start to believe that the safeguards have been deliberately omitted in order to make lucrative conflicts of interest easier to waft through, as long as the right people's interest is ensured.
Have they given it to Dido Harding yet?
Woot! Woot!
Hear the whistle? The gravy train is entering the station.
As Howard Sway said further up, it's all just a way to make sure all the right backs get correctly scratched.
The World is rapidly going down the plughole of corporate governance, it seems to be approaching the point where the vortex will be so strong nothing will escape it.
Politicians of all colours appear to be aiding and abetting the process with the view of securing their post political futures.
National Security now in the eyes of many leaders is not about the preservation of national identity or culture, it's about securing assets.
I suspect the 'Save the NHS' slogan is in alignment with that mentality.
My contempt gland
Just blew up. Wish I could use the joke icon but that would be wasted on this
So they're looking for a company to help choose companies? Why don't they just put a tender out for a company to help them choose the company that will help them choose companies? etc etc etc
Oh sure
" The Demand Management process will ensure that all work meets the needs and priorities of the Home Office in the most appropriate and efficient way to deliver value for money "
Yes, because UK Government IT projects have a stellar record for meeting needs and priorities.
Well, the needs and priorities of the snouts that have access to the trough, that is.
Best choice of adviser?
" The UK's Home Office is tendering to recruit a supplier to help manage the selection of its IT projects, "
What's really needed is a non-supplier - an adviser that can be completely objective about the pros and cons of what they're advising on. However the Home Office approach is common. It prevails within government and quango advisory panels on technologies, security, risk and many other critical areas. The general rule is that vendor representatives dominate the composition of said panels. Consequently, the status quo usually gets maintained at the expense of necessary change.