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A government audit report published today has revealed a sharp decline in complaints being received by procurement departments for disqualification of late tender submissions.
Speaking from the complaints department, Shirley from The Government said the total number of missed deadlines by registered bidders had steadily decreased year on year due to advances in technology including broadband speed and online portals.
“Back in the 90s when we had the tender box we had all matter of excuses – the binder jammed, the copier ran out of paper, daylight savings mix up, the upload time out…we would have couriers crowding our foyers with people king tackling and piling up on each other at the visitor’s register while the clock was ticking.”
“Of course, there’d be the few who’d avoid the bedlem and call ahead and beg for an extension because traffic was terrible but we would stand firm on our decision. In my opinion if they can’t prepare for the Council’s last minute June spending on roadworks then they simply aren’t up to any scope of change as a supplier,” she said.
Asked if the government’s complaints department would now need to make redundancies, Shirley from The Government chuckled, “Oh definitely not. Now that we have less late bidders we have more competition which means a lot more disgruntled losers to deal with.”
Shirley also said since the government had introduced a policy to lower the contract value threshold complaints about the city’s roadworks had increased, although she said it was ‘too early’ to determine if the correlation was directly related to procurement policy.
“We’re collating the feedback and what we understand is that our city’s suburban roads are dotted with contractors being kept busy filling potholes in 200 metre stretches. Different products, varying colours. Our roads are as vibrant as a Southern Blue Ring Octopus at the moment. Now we’re dealing with Deliveroo drivers stacking their bikes on uneven ground. It’s too early to call, but it is looking like June is a busy month in our government too.”
