IT Procurement uncovered by Panorama

[SimpleSi]

And as a primary tech - I wouldn't want any of your year on year MS Tax payments or £30K WiFi schemes or replacing computers <10 years old landed on any of my schools

 

Si

[Mr.Ben]

I notice on Twitter that there are several people mentioning the demise of Becta as something that has contributed to this. Personally I thought their procurement frameworks were an abject shambles, with estimated pricing of equipment that was miles above market prices. Edited September 24, 2012 by Mr.Ben

[plexer]

Primary school heads are accountable to the governing body and the finance committee the head was anonymous failed as she allowed herself to be bullied in to signing and was rightly bought to task over it.

 

Ben

[Ephelyon]

To be fair, Becta's frameworks may have left something to be desired but they certainly weren't THIS bad, and at least there was some form of structure that would have prevented the really bad eggs among suppliers from slipping through the net directly onto Primary Heads like this. Their pricing may have been a little inflated but I gather (and only gather) that their vetting schemes for potential suppliers were reasonably rigorous.

[Mcom]

Looks like it was all to good to be true.

[GREED]

It was a gift for local authorities IMO, to say 'well if you were still with us we would have helped' with a smug grin like your mother does. Seemed to be blaming that lack of relationship more than anything else. Wonder how much that stance will improve a failing relationship between a school and an LA Edited September 25, 2012 by GREED

[Max_Power]

All I kept thinking through the program was; "if it looks too good to be true it probably is"

 

Agree that it should have gone deeper into the topic, and it didn't really offer any advice or "what to do" if your in that situation which a lot of schools would have found beneficial.

[BuyersBuddy]

Buyers Buddy - The Photocopier Salesman's Nemesis...

 

Panorama tonight investigates issues that should be of interest to all schools involved in procurement.

 

A copier for £174,000, is this a record?

 

I am currently helping a client that is paying £5.2m for 30 copiers...

[sonofsanta]

Just caught this email in our spam filter:

 

Good Morning,

 

Following last night’s Panorama report on BBC One we have taken this opportunity to contact you. We are a growing company, trading over 7 years within the education sector and now have over a thousand schools throughout the UK, mainly due to customer referrals.

 

[company] is a recognised telecoms supplier with most local authorities and academy partnerships in the UK.

 

Interesting way to try and spin it to your advantage, even if you do nothing to convince me you're not as bad as those called out last night.

[adhutton]

When I saw the programme and heard the circumstances I wondered if some of the Head Teachers involved weren't accepting some kind of commission or a 'back-hander' from the companies involved?

 

The amounts of money being paid certainly mean that several people could get rich from the deals with plenty left over to actually pay for the equipment!

 

A

[Wellington]

I can understand how a HT could be tucked up with inappropriate hardware on the understanding that it was provided free.

What I fail to understand is how a financial institution would arrange a lease for a value far in access of the true value of the hardware. After all the hardware remains the property of the Leasing Company until the contract is complete.

All credit to Clydesdale Bank for cancelling the debts for schools effected by their contracts. I think their action is likely to be repeated by the larger banks as more publicity highlights this, in my opinion, malpractice.

[X-13]

What I fail to understand is how a financial institution would arrange a lease for a value far in access of the true value of the hardware. After all the hardware remains the property of the Leasing Company until the contract is complete.

 

Because they don't know what the true value of the device actually is. They're assuming the company are charging the right amount.

[Wellington]

Because they don't know what the true value of the device actually is. They're assuming the company are charging the right amount.

 

 

If true then they deserve to shoulder the loss.

More likely that the bank/financial institution representative compiling the lease agreement will have been influenced by the commission and ignored the downside.

[X-13]

Pride comes before a fall...

 

And advertising comes before a ban.

[NAPPS]

And advertising comes before a ban.

 

Apologies X-13 if that is the case. I noticed some URL's on other posts and didn't realise it was against the rules. May I just say in my defence that we don't sell or provide any products.

[X-13]

Apologies X-13 if that is the case. I noticed some URL's on other posts and didn't realise it was against the rules. May I just say in my defence that we don't sell or provide any products.

 

It's cool. I'm in a chop-bustin' mood.

 

But, posting links is one thing, it's different when it's for an organisation you're representing.

[spookyspoof]

When I saw the programme and heard the circumstances I wondered if some of the Head Teachers involved weren't accepting some kind of commission or a 'back-hander' from the companies involved?

 

The amounts of money being paid certainly mean that several people could get rich from the deals with plenty left over to actually pay for the equipment!

 

A

 

I first heard about this scam last year, I went to one of the schools that the program featured, and know of friends children who go there and several staff at this school. I agree, there was something suspect about the HT and Governors being suspended instantly..... and I know it could be seen as shameful to fall for such a scam, but wouldn't want people to know that there are ruthless b*stards out there and have your say and how you fell for it ?

 

Since the start of the new term I've had several text from a member of the staff asking if I could help out part-time in the ICT Department as its so dire....

[Gaz]

I think whats more shocking is that from reading these comments I get the impression that head's just buy stuff without consulting the IT staff? Is that right?

 

I don't work in a school per se so I'm albe to make the desicsions on what we need and I can buy from who I see fit, so I guess i'm lucky in that regard.

[X-13]

I think whats more shocking is that from reading these comments I get the impression that head's just buy stuff without consulting the IT staff? Is that right?

 

Not just the head's... pretty much all staff. [YMMV]

 

It's not unusual to have a teacher ask you to install something they've bought for their class/year/subject only to find it's a single user license.

 

They still expect you do to do it...

[Ketlane]

I think in this case that the HTs bought things without legal/financial advice, and that this was the fundamental cause of their being scammed. IT staff are good at choosing IT but are not necessarily good at reading small-print legalese: though as ever a second pair of eyes and a different view might have spotted the trap.

[Ephelyon]

True Ketlane, though we often do have a little more intuition for the "instant alarm bells" kind of leasing deals as we would have a better understanding of what the equipment would retail for in the first place. Having said that, many Business Managers might also have this if they've previously worked in procurement.