Procurement failure - Oxford

 Some good stuff in Supply Management.  

First, Oxford County Council reaching a settlement for £1.6m with a contractor.  The article is here.

A couple of points here, which I commonly raise with delegates.

Firstly, the cost to the council is significant and would pay the salaries of approximately 30 procurement staff.  Investing in high quality procurement staff can pay for itself - the problem is it pays for itself in cost avoidance, which is difficult to estimate.

Secondly, the council's legal team estimated chances of losing at 75% to 85%.  This may seem odd to people not used to legal cases, but the odds of winning or losing are rarely 100%.  You are never quite sure what the court will find.  (though see tomorrow's blog)  So a lot of decisions are made on a commercial basis rather than a legal basis - "we think we are right but the odds are not good so it is better to settle".

Another good article tomorrow.