Police forces under fire for squandering money on supplies budget

Millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money is being wasted because of the unwillingness of police forces to collaborate on the purchasing of supplies, MPs have warned.

The Commons Public Accounts Committee said the lack of central procurement by the 43 forces in England and Wales – now run by directly-elected police and crime commissioners – had resulted in “unacceptable” variations in the prices they paid for standard items of equipment.

It said the Home Office had identified the independence of the individual forces as the “main barrier” to achieving greater collaboration and standardisation of items bought.

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While the Home Office retained powers to compel forces to collaborate, the committee said it was reluctant to use them.

The result was the prices paid for standard issue items ranged from £14 to £43 for handcuffs and £25 to £114 for boots. Even when items were identical, prices paid differed substantially – with a 33 per cent variation in the price for one type of high-visibility jacket.

Money is wasted when the 43 police forces in England and Wales pay widely varying prices for very similar items,” the committee said. “So there is an institutional tension between local autonomy and effective value for money in buying everything from uniforms to paper.”

The committee chairman, Margaret Hodge, said that with a combined annual procurement budget of £1.7bn, it was essential forces obtained best value for money so they could focus resources on fighting crime.

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“Forces can make big savings through bulk-buying of items, but have been unable to agree on the most simple things, like how many pockets they should have on their uniforms,” she said.

“We recognise that police and crime commissioners have authority over local spending but, as the department remains accountable for public money voted by Parliament, it cannot step back from value for money issues.”