Treasury Christmas tree presents procurement nightmare
The tale of the Treasury’s rather tortured Christmas tree purchase is reported in a number of newspapers this morning, including the Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mail and the Guardian.
According to the reports, Chancellor George Osborne wasn’t keen on paying for a tree supplied under the department’s PFI contract – which would have cost £875 – to demonstrate commitment to the government’s austerity drive.
When civil servants asked the supplier whether they could nip down to B&Q for a considerably cheaper one – costing around £40 – the supplier allegedly raised a number of concerns, including: who would decorate it in line with health and safety regulations? Who would be responsible for turning the lights on and off? And who would dispose of it?
Fortunately, this Christmas story has a happy ending. The supplier ended up donating a tree to the government department for free, and the Treasury’s permanent secretary Sir Nicholas Macpherson stood on a chair to place the star on top.
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Next time, when going for Christmas tree, never put “Christmas” on the specification with general specifications or drawings or photographs rather, competitive offers will come.
Good on the Treasury! Hope they have made sure the contractor will sort out the tree’s disposal as part of their festive gesture.
Great story for sitcom.
Very amusing contribution Felix – I’ll use this with my CIPS Level 4 ‘Developing Contracts’ students next week when we’re discussing non-branded specifications.
But should the Treasury have accepted a free gift?
So pleased to see that common sense prevailed. £875.00 for a Christmas Tree is scandalous. Their buyer wouldn’t have been demonstrating much competance if they had paid that much for the tree. Of course, this does depend on the size of the tree. I can well understand a tree of the massive proportions as seen in Shopping Malls costing that much at least. I guess there is some dependency on the context.
Dave Henshall’s point is valid, even if contributed tongue-in-cheek. B + Q lost a £40 sale because the Treasury accepted a free gift.