darlo_dave

Which is my point all along... we're at the mercy of the LA lawyers. If they fail then BSF, for the children, fails. That's a dangerous position to be in.

But that's the problem, isn't it? Having to wait 5 or 10 years before changing. True competition comes from complete freedom of choice at point of delivery. If three months into the contract you realise it's crap but have to wait another 9 years 7 months then it's not really a help. A BSF contract makes the company the only coffee shop in town and it doesn't matter if they are the only coffee shop for 5 years or 10 years they are still the only coffee shop and they can serve you crap coffee without you being able to do anything about it. But again, penalties which would be defined in the original contract. A contract negotiated by LA Tesco Suit lawyers and BSF Saville Row Suit Lawyers. There will be only one winner. My issue here isn't BSF. I actually think BSF, if done correctly, would be a great thing but I have no faith in LAs, PFI contracts or big companies to do it correctly. That's why I like freedom of choice. Yes, I'll buy a computer from you but if it's crap I'll buy the next one from somewhere else. Just like if I was hiring a technician, if (s)he was crap, I'd sack them and hire another one. I wouldn't put myself in a position where I was stuck with a supplier / technician. I don't do it with my electricity, gas, car insurance or mortgage so I'd hope that people wouldn't do it with my children's school.

The exam board kept moving the goalposts (particularly in relation to the online training of markers). This made the contract either unprofitable or so much of a pain in the backside that it wasn't worth chasing the profit. There's nothing sinister about it. It was just a screw up and it made sense for the company to get out while they could.

It makes a change to see an "on-the-fence" post here and I praise you for it but I have to comment on the above statement. To take the contract from a company you have to prove, in a court, that they are in breach of contract. This sounds fairly simple if they haven't provided a good service but what you have to remember, and I've raised this before, is that the company will have the best business lawyers in the country whereas the LAs will have their own in-house legal team in their Tesco suits. This will make a difference because the best business lawyers in the country will put together a better case. However, if that's not bad enough you have to remember that these contracts will originally be drafted by the LA and the firms legal team. Now which legal team do you think will squeeze in most clauses to suit them? It's a difference between paper law and trial law and anyone who has seen an LA legal team in action will know exactly what I mean. The only way a big company will lose a contract like this is if they want to lose the contract. (See the exams fiasco of this summer for an example).

Haven't the tories already said that BSF will be cut by 10% if they get in power? If so, that's £4.5 billion gone straight away. What you have to remember is that politics is about spin and coverage. Whatever the government do about BSF they aren't going to say they were going to spend £45 billion but now will only spend £10 billion (or whatever figure) as the opposition would then jump on their backs and say they got their maths wrong. Of course, if the opposition get in power they could cut funding by saying that the previous administration got it wrong. In reality we'll probably see a cut or maybe even a stop to the programme altogether but it would never be called that. I suspect a "later stage of the programme has been put on hold" statement to happen in the next two or three years. Then, of course, we have the private companies who have to invest a fair bit in BSF before seeing any outlay. I've already spoken to a rep from one company who said they aren't even pursuing any BSF contracts because of the money they would have to spend. It's this part that will probably be the bigger hit to BSF than anything. As for the media... when, in a few years, the managed services have affected the education of the children of journalists and MPs then we can expect something to appear slagging the system off. That said, I know some MPs are already questioning why schools are being forced to sign up for a service without knowing exactly what that service is. I predict that in a few years this will be a massive story and lots and lots of people will have very red faces. Until then we just have to hold on as best as we can.

I agree with everything you say except this line. Such penalties will be decided in court and who do you think will win that? The big private company with the best business legal team money can buy or your LA with their fresh out of law school lawyer dressed in his Tesco suit? And let's not forget the writing of those contracts in the first place.