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A joint press release from the BBC Trust and the National Audit Office

BBC Trust publishes NAO report on BBC procurement

Thursday 13 December 2007 – For immediate use

• Full Report (335 KB)

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

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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