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UK parliament cartridge suppliers “too expensive”
27/01/2016
MP Luke Hall has “saved hundreds of pounds” by avoiding official suppliers and using a third-party company that recycles used consumables.
Hall, Conservative member of parliament (MP) for South Gloucester, England, was found by Bristol Post to have spent £595 ($851/€783) on cartridges in “just two months” last summer. Karin Smyth, Labour MP for Bristol South, also spent £865 ($1,238/€1,139), and Hall responded that “office supplies in parliament are too dear”, and that he has “saved hundreds of pounds by avoiding parliament suppliers”.
Parliament’s chosen suppliers for office supplies are said to be “proving so expensive that MPs say they are being forced to do their own deals for office equipment”; with both Hall and Smyth stating that the large bills “were a result of buying through the House of Commons’ office supplier”. Hall found “an outside company” that supplies him with the cartridges he needs “but for less than a third of the price”.
He stated that “when I got the bill I thought, ‘wow, that is a lot of money’. What I have done since is found a company that will take away the used ink cartridges and recycle them, while giving me new ones. It has brought the overall cost down to £145 ($207/€190)”. He also noted that when he became an MP in May 2015, and needed to set up offices, he used retailer PC World to buy laptops “because the Common’s supplier wanted to charge” £950 ($1,360/€1,251) per computer.
He instead spent £300 ($429/€395) per computer, having “decided I wasn’t going to pay that”, and despite the high costs of cartridges reported, the Bristol Post pointed out both MPs’ spends “fell within the accepted guidelines for reclaims”. The House of Commons uses two suppliers after a deal in 2011, with Nottingham-based XMA supplying cartridges, and the deal said to save £18 million ($25 million/€23 million) a year.
Bristol Post also reported the deals were supposed to “ensure that government departments were all paying one price for stationary, computer hardware and other supplies”, with a spokesperson for the House of Commons adding that “MPs should ensure that they use the right supplier for each purchase”, because the other company, Banner, “charges a higher rate” for cartridges. The newspaper contacted both XMA and Banner for comment, but neither responded.
The spokesperson added: “To be clear, Banner are not our official supplier for printer toner – that is XMA, who went through the legally-compliant, competitively-tendered procurement process and offer competitive pricing. For printer toner, MPs can set up individual accounts with XMA, who supply new and reconditioned toner products for all major manufacturers. XMA is registered with IPSA and direct payments are permitted. Again, MPs are free to order this equipment from other suppliers if they wish.”
The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) said MPs “were not forced to use official suppliers […] MPs are free to use any supplier they want. The reason the supplier is convenient is because there is a direct form of payment. It is paid through IPSA and there is no need for a receipt or for the purchase to be claimed back”. The Recycler has contacted Hall for comment and clarification on the supplier he now uses for cartridges.
