1.12 We accept the Department's view that rationalising their existing fixed telecommunications services and networks already made the project very complex. It is also their view that widening the scope to include, for example mobile telecommunications or other contracts mentioned in Appendix 2, would have made it more difficult to let the contract, as the increased complexity would have increased the project risks and would have required substantial resources from the Department and bidders.
1.13 In addition, the Department were under pressure to deliver the potential savings of approximately £3 million a month identified in their reviews. They therefore wanted to keep the length of time needed to let the contract as short as possible to avoid delays in the achievement of savings they expected to secure through rationalising the delivery of fixed telecommunications services, identified in the Department's review and reported to Parliament in 1994. BT, the winning bidder, supports this view. We consider that the Department should, nevertheless, have formally assessed a range of options for the scope of the project, as only by doing so would they have been in a position to decide whether there were additional savings which were worth pursuing. The need to utilise additional resources should not deter departments from pursuing options which justify the time and costs of those resources.