WRITTEN EVIDENCE
SUBMITTED BY
GERALD SEENAN
[OS 19]
Following an interview with the head of G4S on BBC
on Saturday, I put together the following very cursory analysis
which I thought might interest you, based on numbers which were
presented by Nick Buckles during the interview.
Mr Buckles claimed that there have been 110,000 applications
for security jobs, resulting in 50,000 interviews, and that there
are 10,400 positions to be filled.
Breaking the activities of the contract broadly into
Recruitment, Training, Deployment, and Management & Control,
a very rough ballpark calculation might result in the following
numbers:
Allowing 15 minutes to review each of the 100,000
applications generates 27,500 hours work or 17 person-years. There
then follow 50,000 interviews, and assuming a generous two hours
for each person, to review, prepare paperwork and interview adds
100,000 hours or 63 person-years. Assuming the recruitment staff
are being paid at a rate of £45k per annum, that is a total
of £3.6 million.
Assuming two weeks training for each of the 10,400
successful applicants, followed by two weeks work at the Olympics,
and allowing a very generous rate of £800 per week (almost
doubling the rate in a current recruitment advert quoting £8.60/hour),
creates a £33.3 million bill for security staff. Adding £200
each for uniforms, phones etc brings this total to approximately
£35 million.
Whilst one assumes that a proportion of the 10,400
jobs are supervisory, allow additional supervision at a rate of
one person per 10 security staff, involving again two weeks training
and two weeks at the Olympics at a rate of £1,000 per week.
This adds £4.2 million.
Assume—again being generous—that it requires
50 professional staff at G4S for one year to set up, manage and
control the whole project, liaise with the Olympics organisers
and the authorities, at salaries of £100,000 per annum. This
results in an additional £5 million.
The total cost so far is approximately £48 million.
One assumes that G4S will have their own in-house systems for
communication and management of such activities, but let's again
be generous and add another £20 million to cover systems
and other backroom costs involved in providing the security services
in the run-up and throughout the Olympics. That takes the total
within striking distance of £70 million.
And yet the total bill for the contract is reported
to be well in excess of £300 million.
One is prompted to ask whether this particular contract
represents value for money—even if it had been carried out
properly.
July 2012
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