Poor IT systems are slowing down the Prison Service's
attempts to modernise its procurement strategy, the Parliamentary
public spending watchdog has concluded.
Up-to-date procurement systems could save the Prison Service more
than £9m, but they are unlikely to be in place before 2005, a
report by the Commons' Public Accounts Committee revealed.
In 2001-2002 the 128 directly managed prisons in England and Wales
spent £461m on supplies and the Prison Service's headquarters spent
a further £491m on central projects and services. But the committee
found that the Prison Service's procurement systems were still
largely paper-based, limiting the amount of information available
to managers.
MPs said better IT systems would provide staff and prison governors
with better information on stock levels and prices across the
prison estate.
The Prison Service has already implemented a new IT infrastructure
and expects to introduce a finance module in April next year, but
it will not implement the key procurement module until April
2005.
Edward Leigh, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, said, "The
Prison Service is working to modernise its procurement of goods and
services, on which it spends almost £1bn a year. I find it
dissatisfactory that progress has been patchy, with procurement
fragmented and costly to deliver."
Earlier this year the National Audit Office highlighted
shortcomings in the Prison Service's procurement strategy. It said
the the organisation lacked common, service-wide IT support for
purchase orders and stock control.