Claims extracted
19
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
11%
2 of 19 hedged
("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
69/100
Daily Mail's corrections and
hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
The Scottish Government has been urged to explain why it has spent nearly £300million outsourcing work that its army of civil servants could mostly do themselves.
uncertain
army → urge → servants
SNP ministers handed a £2.7million contract to Manchester firm APS Group to provide thousands of ‘gimmick’ schoolbags to Primary One pupils last week, without putting the contract out to tender.
asserted
ministers → hand → contract
The Mail on Sunday can reveal the same firm has been awarded a staggering £294million in public contracts from the Scottish Government since 2014, for jobs including supplying office furniture, postcards and displays, and printing documents.
asserted
firm → reveal → documents
Almost a third of the firm’s government earnings have come from delivering the Baby Box to more than 40,000 families a year.
asserted
third → come → families
That’s despite the Scottish Government having its own procurement department, which employs around 1,300 staff and a director on £120,000 a year.
asserted
which → ’ → 120,000
APS Group will be responsible for sourcing the government’s schoolbags from a Chinese factory, buying all the items to go inside them from around the UK and abroad, and then ‘assembling’ and delivering the bags around Scotland.
asserted
Group → source → Scotland
The Scottish Conservatives have questioned why a private firm has been given these lucrative contracts rather than putting the government’s ‘army’ of civil servants to work on the large-scale projects like the baby boxes and schoolbags.
asserted
firm → question → boxes
Almost £100million has been spent on the Baby Box scheme so far via contracts to APS Group
A sample of the schoolbags planned for Primary One pupils starting next August
Scottish Conservative education spokeswoman Meghan Gallacher MSP said: ‘The SNP have an army of civil servants who could be doing this work in-house, yet they are typically happy to let taxpayers foot the bill.
uncertain
taxpayers → spend → bill
‘With this company also handling the SNP’s flagship Baby Box scheme, John Swinney must explain how these contracts were awarded and prove taxpayers are getting value for money.
asserted
taxpayers → handle → money
‘Families and young people deserve real support, not another SNP gimmick at the public’s expense.’
asserted
Families → deserve → expense
APS Group has been handling the government’s baby box scheme since its introduction in 2017.
asserted
Group → handle → 2017
It was given £100,000 for the pilot of the scheme in Orkney, followed by £35million to manage the whole thing for five years.
asserted
It → give → years
It was renewed for a further five years in 2022 for £56million.
asserted
It → renew → 56million
The firm receives money from the government and then buys all the items for the boxes from different suppliers before putting them together.
asserted
firm → receive → them
It is also responsible for delivering the boxes to parents.
asserted
It → deliver → parents
It’s likely to use the same model for the schoolbags.
asserted
It → ’ → schoolbags
It has also been given almost £200million in contracts for printing documents, signs and booklets, including the white paper on independence, since 2014.
asserted
It → give → 2014
A Scottish Government spokeswoman couldn’t explain why civil servants were unable to manage the school bag project themselves but said: ‘The procurement route we took – with a trusted supplier which worked with us on the Baby Box - provided the most efficient and cost-effective delivery in time for the start of the next school year.
asserted
which → explain → year
‘For maximum value for money, the bags will be assembled in Scotland by the APS Group, though some items will be procured from the rest of the UK and overseas.’
asserted
items → assemble → UK
The Aporia
