Supplementary memorandum from Barnardo's
I am writing to thank you for the opportunity
to give evidence to the Committee on 10 July, and to follow up
on some issues from the session.
David Heyes MP asked if Barnardo's could quantify
the costs involved in abortive bids, in particular the proportion
of Barnardo's income that goes on competitive bidding that does
not result in a contract or service to the public (Q227).
I am able to provide the Committee with some
figures based on the average costs of unsuccessful bids. In 2006
Barnardo's bid for 275 contracts, 91 of these were unsuccessful
(33%). The annual value of the 91 unsuccessful bids in 2006 was
£10.2 million, so an average value of £112,000 per contract.
Barnardo's can spend, on average, up to £2,000 in preparing
a tender (85% staff time, 15% on other expenses: stationery, postage,
travel etc).
The approximate cost to Barnardo's in 2006 of
unsuccessful bids can be estimated at £182,000, or just under
0.1% of our turnover. We also calculate that Barnardo's spends
about 1.8% of the total value of a contract in preparing for that
bid. I hope that these figures assist the Committee, please do
get back to us if you require further clarification.
Barnardo's would be delighted to host a visit
for members of the Committee to any of our services to explore
the issues raised during the session in further detail. Please
get in touch if you would like to arrange a visit.
I look forward to seeing the outcome of your
report in due course.
August 2007
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