Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 12
12
The Department told us that the reason it had yet to sign any new gigabit...
Conclusion
The Department told us that the reason it had yet to sign any new gigabit infrastructure contracts was largely that commercial operators hadaccelerated their plans for expanding gigabit coverage very rapidly. It explained that this has meant that it needed to re-plan on the basis that the private sector has picked up more than was originally expected. The Department informed us that it wanted to ensure that taxpayer money was not wasted, and that public funding was used only when absolutely needed.37 The Department told us that the level of change in commercial operators and the market in the last year had been unprecedented and that it did not expect in future to have to re-plan to the degree that it has in the past 12 months.38
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
3.10 BDUK’s overall programme strategy and design of its interventions, including the procurement approach, balances the need to be dynamic and responsive to the market’s plans while maintaining a minimum level of certainty that suppliers will build viable networks to uncommercial areas and consequently ensure appropriate value for money. 3.11 BDUK has implemented a robust process for surveying contract areas to understand suppliers’ commercial build plans and identify the premises requiring support from BDUK to access gigabit networks. This process provides BDUK with the information required to identify whether to intervene in an area, because there are no commercial plans to build gigabit infrastructure, or to defer programme activity in that area because they may be covered by suppliers’ commercial build plans. BDUK retains the option of including premises in later delivery phases of its Gigabit Infrastructure Subsidy contracts if intervention is required at a later date because suppliers’ commercial build plans change. 3.12 BDUK has streamlined its procurement process, while maintaining Public Contracting Regulations and Cabinet Office best practice. This includes establishing a Dynamic Purchasing System to pre-qualify bidders for its local supplier procurements and investing time in pre-procurement market engagement to assess the viability of proposed procurements and mitigate the risk of delays from failed procurements. 3.13 BDUK reviews its procurement approach following each round of procurements to measure their success and learn lessons to take into subsequent procurements. The first round of procurements are planned to be complete by December 2022.