Mon 21 Apr 2008
The Construction Confederation calls for Clarity
The Contruction Confederation has insisted that that the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) elucidates some of its claims relating to price-fixing allegations, following a series of “sensationalised” media reports.It wants to know what evidence there is that illegal compenastion payments were made, and exactly how much money the alleged price fixing has cost tax-payers.
Since the the OFT issued its Statement of Objections last week, it’s been revealed that only nine of the 112 companies have been accused of price fixing for material gains, have actually made financial gains from cover pricing.
The Construction Confederation enquired: “Why were these figures not publicised in the press release, which would have helped to put these allegations in context and avoid these isolated incidents being sensationalised in media reports and so lead to considerable confusion on the part of the public sector?”
The confederation has also aksed the OFT to support its claims that prices for public-sector clients had been artificially inflated by up to 10%.
Stephen Ratcliffe (pictured), the confederation's chief executive, said: “This claim has generated extensive media coverage which in many cases has been factually incorrect and exaggerated and no doubt caused great concern among clients and the general public.
“Does this alleged 10% increase to prices apply to one contract, several contracts or all contracts? What is the evidence for this claim?
“We do not believe there is any foundation for this allegation.”
Posted by Marc Da-Silva
in Construction Confederation, News, Office of Fair Trading, Stephen Ratcliffe on Mon 21 Apr 2008
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