In addition to delivering our Criminal Contract bidding service the demands of my day job don’t go away. I am working on a number of ongoing appeals, some new ones and, oddly, a set of Peer Review representations. This in the small gaps surrounding the procurement round hiatus.
On top of that I spoke to a client today who has been asked to do a “self review” on a scale almost impossible to conceive, all because of a single mistake, which has never previously occurred throughout the entire history of contracting – that is, never before in 16 years*. These all form part of the LAA’s “zero tolerance” of human error, as ubiquitously displayed on audit.
Contrast this to today’s most recent message from their Central Commissioning team – yes the ones who bought you the highly successful 2015 Dual Contracting. Just over 4 weeks into the present bid round they are now on the 5th version of the Birmingham Duty Information Form. Unable to rectify their own previous errors on version 2, 3 or even 4 they have had a further attempt. All applicants who have sensibly completed the process early, must now go back and do it again. Some perhaps for the 5th time. It is not just Birmingham either, 7 of the LAA’s 12 regions saw a new version issued today. I confidently predict that this is not the final amendment list.
This is incompetence of the very highest order.
One might think that in such circumstances they would perhaps show some humility and display a greater understanding of “human error”, particularly when manifestly and repeatedly incapable of managing it within their own organisation.
As if! (last para)