Committee raises concerns over £10bn of GLA contracts
0The Greater London Authority (GLA) Oversight Committee has expressed concerns over the GLA Group’s procurement practices with regard to £10bn worth of contracts.
The Committee published a report on 26 July which considered the £10bn spent by the GLA Group on procurement activities every year. The report considered the selection of providers, value for money and issues of accountability, auditing, and transparency.
The investigation focused on Silvertown Tunnel, the Garden Bridge, Bond Street Crossrail station, Royal Albert Docks, Silvertown Quays, and East Bank.
The report raised concerns over the procurement service arrangement that Transport for London (TfL) provides for the GLA Group. During 2019-20 TfL identified a series of weaknesses with the application of procurement rules throughout the organisation.
Caroline Pidgeon, former chair of the GLA Oversight Committee, said: “£10bn is a huge amount of money, and it must be spent responsibly.
“Over the years, the London Assembly has reviewed a number of large procurement processes. This investigation continued in that vein and explored a number of procurements that have given this committee reason to be concerned.”
The report called into question whether procurement practices were followed and represented value for money.
Pidgeon continued: “It’s claimed that the GLA Group’s vast buying power should help create a fairer, greener and more equitable city but we discovered that procurement arrangements were not being followed in all cases.
“This led to a significant amount of single-source tender arrangements, which may not have provided value for money. The scale of the expenditure makes this an area that is vital to get right, in order to deliver value for money for Londoners.”
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