BBC accused of wasting millions on props, costumes and catering

The BBC is wasting millions of pounds of licence payers' money every year by dealing with more than 17,000 suppliers, a committee of MPs warns today.
The Commons public accounts committee attacks the BBC for the expensive way it procures some £531m of equipment every year, when savings could be made by using more central contracts.
The equipment covers everything from make-up, props, costumes and stage scenery to audio-visual aids and studio cameras. It also includes catering, office stationery, market research, security contracts , and courier services.
The committee's report reveals that a new central electronic purchasing system has failed to cut costs as much as had been hoped. The system - which cost the BBC £150,000 a year to install across 4,500 computers - allowed staff to make purchases online.
But licences on about 2,000 machines were never used and some 780 staff have now been removed from the system because it was costing more to license them to use it than any savings they were making.
The system cut the cost of placing orders from £38 to £6. However, the BBC spent more than £200m on buying equipment outside the system, through local deals, and it made almost 38,000 individual purchases from suppliers with which it had no central contract.
The MPs' report says the BBC may be on target to save £75m over three years but questions whether the savings are as high as claimed. It points out that a 4.8% cut in temporary procurement staff to cut the total bill by £2.5m came a year after the BBC had doubled its spending on temporary staff from £26.3m to £52.8m. The BBC blamed exceptional circumstances, including hiring technical staff to set up the new iPlayer for TV programmes for that year's steep rise in staff costs.
Edward Leigh, the committee's chairman, said: "I welcome the finding that the BBC is on course to hit its own target of saving a total of £75m over three years in respect of its spending on goods and services. A closer analysis reveals, however, that the percentage savings were lowest in the areas where the BBC spends the most. There is a lot more that the BBC can do to trim its procurement bill. It should make sure that its staff are fully aware that buying under central contracts can save a lot of money. It should look for further opportunities to use electronic auctions so that potential suppliers can compete online for business."
A BBC Trust spokesman said: "The BBC is committed to achieving the highest levels of efficiency to deliver licence fee payers value for money. To that end, we have already accepted the [National Audit Office's] specific recommendations to improve processes further in order to deliver even more savings and will review carefully the additional recommendations made today by the PAC."