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Beitrag vom 04.04.2017
The Times, London
Taxpayers being ripped off by foreign aid profiteers
MPs warn of sharp practice ‘embedded’ in system
Dominic Kennedy, Investigations Editor
Unethical behaviour is “absolutely embedded” in the culture of foreign aid contractors employed by the government, according to MPs.
Profiteering, overcharging and duplicity have been uncovered at businesses that receive millions of pounds in taxpayers’ money to implement aid projects overseas, it is claimed in a report published today.
Whistleblowers agreed to give evidence in return for retaining their anonymity. MPs found that:
? The rapid growth in the Department for International Development (Dfid) aid budget has made contracts too big to lose, encouraging sharp practice by those making bids.
? Contractors are charging the department more than twice the going market rate for staffing costs.
? Companies use not-for-profit non-governmental organisations as “bid candy” by including them in consortiums then ditch them when work begins to increase their profit margin.
The claims are set out in the report from the international development committee. Its inquiry was ordered in response to reports by The Times on overcharging by aid consultants.
The findings of an embedded culture of poor practice within foreign aid contractors contrast with a statement by Priti Patel, the international development secretary, who in January blamed problems in the sector on “rogue practices by a few”.
In the report, MPs accuse some companies of profiteering. Although Dfid states in its contracts that companies may make “fair but not excessive profits”, the committee found that this vague definition “provides little reassurance to the public that contractors are not getting rich from UK aid.” Stephen Twigg, the committee chairman, told The Times: “Many contractors deliver aid and development effectively but some contractors have behaved in an appalling way.”
He demanded stronger enforcement and assurances from Dfid that it was ensuring value for money.
“There is every incentive to win that contract and very little punishment for not delivering. You will say everything you can to win that contract
The British aid contracting industry has more than doubled in value from £540 million in 2012 to £1.34 billion last year. The proportion of every pound of taxpayers’ aid money that is spent on consultants has risen from 12p in 2011 to 22p. MPs took the rare step of agreeing to hear evidence in a private session so that contractors could speak openly without “fear of jeopardising working relationships”.
One whistleblower, when asked whether poor conduct by contractors was common, replied: “It is absolutely embedded in the culture. There is every incentive to win that contract and there is very little punishment for not delivering on the contract. You will say everything you possibly can to win that contract.”
Budget breakdowns showed the public being charged twice the going rate for workers. One contractor on a project had a margin of 141 per cent between staffing costs charged to Dfid and the cost at market rates.
MPs praised the department for recently introducing “full cost transparency” to the bidding process “though it is unclear why this was not adopted earlier to stamp out profiteering”.
Not-for-profit organisations were being exploited by companies to win contracts, the inquiry was told. A contractor giving evidence in private said that “there is little incentive to keep them on and a great deal of incentive to drop them to increase profit margins”.
Dfid said: “The secretary of state has been crystal clear that she expects all suppliers to deliver results for the world’s poorest, provide value for taxpayers’ money and that she will not tolerate anything less. The department is undertaking a fundamental review of its work with suppliers to instigate root-and-branch reform based on accountability and transparency.”