The Department for Education (DfE) was forced to row back on its decision to hand a contract to provide free school meal vouchers if schools close again to Edenred after a legal challenge by a rival bidder.
This means at least three major outsourcing contracts from the department have been at the centre of legal challenges.
A fourth – to award Randstad the £32 million National Tutoring Programme contract – came under intense scrutiny, with the HR firm later axed and a new tender launched.
Richard Moore, a commercial contract lawyer at Clarke Willmott law firm, said DfE’s procurement disputes show “all the signs of an organisation under stress with regard to its current procurement performance and outcomes”.
