Capita wins yet again - Barnet Supplier Payments for January

Barnet's supplier payments for January have just been published and yet again Capita have done well receiving a total of £6.6 million in spite of having to pay credits of £1.44 million. It brings the running total paid to Capita for this financial year to £65 million and £178 million more than the contracted value since the contract started.

The other big payment this month was £2.25 million to Matrix SCM who are responsible for the interim and agency staff payments for Barnet. This is a big jumps from previous months and is a worrying trend with the year end figure looking like it will hit £15 million.

A few other payments which caught my attention include: £27,580 paid to Baltimore Consulting who help recruit senior public sector staff; £62,954.18 paid to PA Consulting; £10,976.48 paid to Saracens; and £151,997.11 paid to Blue 9 Security who also provide security at our "unstaffed" libraries.

Barnet are facing a massive financial black hole over the next five years with a £92.7 budget shortfall looming.  This year Barnet have to make £17.3 million of savings this year, a target which Barnet have failed to meet year on year.  Until they can get the Capita contract under control it will be exceptionally difficult to reduce this financial black hole.

As always, and even though gagged, I will keep a watching eye on Barnet's spending.