Twice2much discuss spend recovery and ask the question: Why are so many Public Sector organisations ignoring the opportunity of FREE MONEY?
Over the last 5 years there has been a framework in place, established by Crown Commercial Services (CCS), to facilitate Public Sector organisations procuring a Spend Recovery review to identify historical potential overcharging and/or overpayments and recover monies on their behalf.
Given that these reviews are being carried out by third parties, on a share of recoveries basis, with all costs/risk being absorbed by the third party, it is at the very least surprising that virtually EVERY public body has not at least explored the opportunity for an unbudgeted CASH WINDFALL.
From our discussions with many Public Sector bodies the reasons would appear to be as follows:
- Perceived time/resource implications of undertaking such a review
- Worry that recoveries will reflect lack of historical controls or someone will be blamed
- Can’t estimate the benefit so not worth the effort!
Below, Twice2much have attempted to address the concerns relating to the above:
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Time/Resource implications
In reality, there is minimal internal resource required. Reviews are predominantly carried out off-system, off-site and out of sight.
We have established procedures in place for data acquisition, process mapping, reviews and collections to ensure that Client resources are kept to a minimum.
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Concerns over lack of historical controls
The most important thing is that our recoveries, whilst in many instances being a significant direct benefit to our Clients, generally only represents a small fraction of the invoices and payments made by them.
In our experience, from the reports produced following our review and the experiences we can share, Clients realise and understand that they are not alone and that there is no blame to be apportioned. Reviews are about generating benefit and moving forwards not back…
It also reflects our Clients’ commitment to wanting to ensure the comprehensiveness of controls in place.
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Can’t estimate the benefit so not worth the effort
Twice2much reviews for Clients have generated recoveries in excess of £100 million. This shows that any organisation regardless of size, complexity and controls in place is susceptible to error. Some errors are picked up by system controls/staff/suppliers, others remain invisible waiting for us to identify and recover on behalf of Clients.
As the effort is predominantly that of the third party not the Client, what is there to lose, but more importantly the question to be addressed is what is there to GAIN…
What next?
Twice2much would be grateful to build on our discussions with Public Sector bodies, understand any other concerns and see how we can generate a CASH WINDFALL for you.
The link below will allow you to provide details so that we can address directly any concerns you may have, assist you with considering a review and advise on next steps to share in recoveries for your organisation.
Additional information for you
Crown Commercial Services (CCS), the UK’s largest public sector procurement body, responsible for shaping and delivering government procurement policy, estimates that £220 million in overcharges and incorrect payments could be recovered over the next four years. To facilitate the identification and recovery of these valuable funds, CCS created the Spend Analysis and Recovery Services Framework – SARS II (RM 3820).
Suppliers on the framework have already been carefully evaluated during the tender process against set criteria:
- Quality
- Technical Merit including capacity to supply, performance, reporting, references, Insurances etc.
- Security Considerations
- Environmental/Social considerations
- Financial Assessments
- Price
Suppliers on the Spend Recovery Framework provide the time, resource and expertise that many in-house teams cannot afford:
- Specialist teams of audit experts
- Tailor-made software solution that has been designed specifically for the task
- Dedicated recovery function
