Press Release - BBC Trust publishes NAO report on BBC
procurement
13 December 2007
The BBC Trust today (13 December 2007) published an independent
report it had commissioned from the National Audit Office (NAO) on
BBC procurement.
Jeremy Peat, BBC Trustee, said:
"The Trust welcomes the NAO's positive findings about the BBC’s
procurement practices. The NAO’s assessment that the BBC reflects
good practice in procurement overall and is on course to deliver
its targeted efficiency savings is very encouraging. We accept the
NAO’s specific recommendations to improve processes further in
order to deliver even more savings. These recommendations have been
discussed with the BBC Executive and we are content that the
Executive’s actions are an appropriate response."
Sir John Bourn, Comptroller and Auditor General,
said:
"Overall the BBC has introduced good procurement practices to
secure value for money when purchasing goods and services. However,
there are still some important ways the BBC could improve and make
further savings, and the implementation of recommendations made in
my report will enable the BBC to make better use of licence
fee-payers' money."
BBC procurement
The NAO review looked at how the BBC manages its spending on
goods and services and whether it is organised and equipped to
deliver best value from its procurement. It also examined whether
there was scope for the BBC to make further savings from its
procurement arrangements.
The BBC spends more than £500 million each year on a wide range
of goods and services, from broadcast specific products for
programme makers, such as props, costume, and lighting, to more
generic items for all its employees like stationery and travel, and
according to the NAO, has adopted good procurement practices to
improve significantly its procurement and deliver better value for
money. The BBC is on course to achieve its target of £75 million
savings from its procurement activities in the three years to March
2008
The report has identified a series of recommendations to improve
the BBC’s procurement process further.
These include the BBC:
- Continuing to develop the use of technology to minimise
administrative costs;
The Trust welcomes the BBC Executive's commitment to develop
further the use of e-procurement to reduce costs.
- Getting better deals from suppliers by negotiating more
central contracts and reducing the number of suppliers it uses
where spending is of low value;
The Trust supports BBC Executive's attempts to reduce the number of
suppliers it has and increase the number of central contracts.
The Trust agrees with the NAO's recommendation that a balance must
be struck between reducing supplier numbers and keeping the supply
base open.
- Strengthening the way it assesses its procurement
performance by starting to measure user satisfaction.
The Trust endorses the BBC Executive approach to introducing
other indicators as recommended by the NAO.
Notes for editors
- It is the responsibility of the BBC Trust, under the Royal
Charter, to ensure that value for money is achieved by the BBC
through its spending of the licence fee. In order to fulfil this
responsibility, the Trust commissions and publishes a series of
independent value for money reviews each year in consultation with
the Comptroller and Auditor General – the head of the NAO. The
reviews are undertaken by the NAO or other external agencies.
- The Comptroller and Auditor General, Sir John Bourn, is the
head of the National Audit Office which employs some 850 staff. He
and the NAO are totally independent of Government. He certifies the
accounts of all Government departments and a wide range of other
public sector bodies; and he has statutory authority to report to
Parliament on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which
departments and other bodies have used their resources.
- The BBC Trust has today also published an independent report by
Deloitte & Touche into how efficiently and effectively the BBC
uses the spectrum it has available to it. This report was
commissioned by the Trust as part of its programme of Value for
Money reviews into the BBC, following discussions with the National
Audit Office.
Media contacts:
Ben Wiseman
Press Officer, BBC Trust
t: 020 7208 9558
m: 07930 393475
f: 020 7208 9670
Barry Lester
Head of Press Office, National Audit Office
t: 020 7798 7937
m: 07748 181692