Revenue broke rules on awarding contracts
No tender process for consultancy contracts
HM Revenue and Customs awarded consultancy contracts worth £4m without first
putting them out to tender.
This embarrassing finding emerged after documents were released under the
Freedom of Information Act, which revealed HMRC had ‘uncovered issues with the
procurement of consultancy services’ and comes soon after criticism from the
National Audit Office for paying hefty incentives to software suppliers.
The NAO’s annual report, released two weeks ago mentioned similar
procurement failings at the HMRC including ‘non-adherence to public procurement
rules’ in relation to the use of consultants and says HMRC is now trying to
ensure fully compliant contracts are in place by this autumn.
An HMRC spokeswoman told the Sunday Telegraph: ‘Our own internal
checks highlighted some issues in connection with the procurement of consultancy
services. These issues have now been addressed.’