MOD paying £22 for a 65p light bulb

[paddyhasneeds]

Assuming it's not a one off, which it doesn't sound like, just how the fk does this happen?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12643966

[andy_s]

...and screwdrivers at £100 etc etc

There's plenty of money in the pot, just piss poor management by passed over colonels and shiney arsed senior servants.

[DS3R]

As I literally just said here:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Head of the NAO (Amyas Morse) was Commercial Director of the MOD for four years previously.

Tells you all you need to know....

[Eric Mc]

I bet you don't just pay 65p for your lightbulbs too (although I doubt you pay as much as the MoD do).

[Stevenj214]

A company I worked for would regularly receive MOD purchase orders for a single pack of plasters costing £1 which would incur a delivery charge of £10.

Despite being contacted and told, the orders continued.

[Petrolhead_Rich]

Won't be a one off, but might include an electrician to fit the bulb!

Elf n Safety and all that....

[GuinnessMK]

I thought this had been explained in the film Independance Day?

They "pay" £100 for a screwdriver, but £99 goes towards our intergalactic starship / space based "laser" defence / teleporter device?

No? Really, they just waste billions of our taxes?

No wonder there isn't enough money left in the pot for armoured vehicles or body armour to protect the lads at the front line.

Shame.

[Mojooo]

Someone offers an explanation on the BBC website, its 1 pack of 25 bulbs and they are somesort of heavy duty (i.e not standard) bulbs.

[Zaxxon]

At a location in Aldershot, the useless company that did all of the maintenance for the various sites wanted £650 to hang 2 medium sized whiteboards in our office. And it would take 6 -8 week before they could do it.

If I had done it (as I had offered...for free) I would have been dropped from the project.

That contract to maintain the sites will is in place for 30 years!

Anyone who has visited any of the sites in Aldershot will know what a dreadfull state they are in.




There are some MOD procurement personnel that need jailing for gross incompetance.

[Adrian W]

Don’t let the facts get in the way etc, the prices quoted were before the MOD discount, in the case of the bulb it was 98% so was in fact about the £0.65. Bloke on LBC was explaining it this morning.

Bit of sensationalist rubbish.

[TankRizzo]

Mojooo said:

Someone offers an explanation on the BBC website, its 1 pack of 25 bulbs and they are somesort of heavy duty (i.e not standard) bulbs.

Indeed, and looking online they're 92p each which comes to £23.00, so it even looks like the MOD are getting a small discount.

Pretty sloppy journalism.

[Stevenj214]

Mojooo said:

Someone offers an explanation on the BBC website, its 1 pack of 25 bulbs and they are somesort of heavy duty (i.e not standard) bulbs.

I don't see how the poster on BBC equated DofQ with 25. DofQ (Denomination of Quantity) could equal "Each".

[Stevenj214]

Adrian W said:

Don’t let the facts get in the way etc, the prices quoted were before the MOD discount, in the case of the bulb it was 98% so was in fact about the £0.65. Bloke on LBC was explaining it this morning.

Bit of sensationalist rubbish.

Care to share your facts then?

[Zaxxon]

Adrian W said:

Don’t let the facts get in the way etc, the prices quoted were before the MOD discount, in the case of the bulb it was 98% so was in fact about the £0.65. Bloke on LBC was explaining it this morning.

Bit of sensationalist rubbish.

Care to explain how hanging two whiteboards (8 holes drilled, 8 fixings applied), can cost £650 ?

[Adrian W]

Stevenj214 said:

Care to share your facts then?

I didnt write down his name, but he worked for the supplier concerned, but I have dealt with MOD procurement in the past, when it comes to normal stuff they do look at every penny, ask for open book costings, look at the proportion of your bussiness is dependent on them, and watch your accounts to varify your margins.

The ones who are really milking it are the large defense contractors like BAE etc, not this stuff.

[carmonk]

Adrian W said:

Don’t let the facts get in the way etc, the prices quoted were before the MOD discount, in the case of the bulb it was 98% so was in fact about the £0.65. Bloke on LBC was explaining it this morning.

That doesn't make sense. Discount from what? Unless someone out there pays £22 for bulbs then there can be no discount. And if a discount was applied then it's not relevant to the invoice, which would be for the amount paid.

Never underestimate the methods by which organisations, especially public / government, can waste money. Unless you have experience of them you simply would not believe it.

[Victor McDade]

I don't believe it - next you'll be telling us they spent £150k on useless books

[rs1952]

Going off on a tangent for a moment, I was talking to a bloke a couple of weeks ago who I've know for years and is involved in RAF procurement. He was telling me that some sort of plane or otherv needed a complete computer refit costing millions if not billions because they could not longer get spares for the old kit which, apparently, was still working quite well until it needed components.

I made the pount that somebody, somewhere, will produce anything for you if the price is right, and paying say 2 or 3 times the original price for minor components was still a bloody sight less than the costs of stripping out entire computer systems and replacing them. He always had an answer:

"It would be too expensive"
"We might get ripped off by rogue merchants"
"We would have to negotiate new contracts"

Or, reading between the lines, he wanted to spend millions rather than coppers and that was the end of the matter. Whats all this about defence cuts and redundancies in the armed forces again

[MX7]

Adrian W said:

Don’t let the facts get in the way etc, the prices quoted were before the MOD discount, in the case of the bulb it was 98% so was in fact about the £0.65. Bloke on LBC was explaining it this morning.

Bit of sensationalist rubbish.

Liam Fox, the Defence Secretary, admitted that the MoD invoices, leaked by a soldier serving at an unnamed British military base, showed a “complete lack of common sense”

I'd have thought that the Defence Secretary would check it out before commenting.

[V88Dicky]

Away from lightbulbs for a second.


The MOD pays north of £500 PER UNIT for these headsets, which have been around since the early sixties;




And over £200 each for these, (available for £20 in you local BT shop);