"Contracts like this incorporate numerous strategic inputs"
Damn right they do; this is someone else (the government) spending my money. If all NHS contracts were decided by a panel of nurses, and all policing contracts were let by plods, and squaddies decided how many regiments there would be, and motorists who drove the most miles in a year made the decisions on where new motorways would be built, who would look after my interests as a taxpayer? No government-funded services should be perfect, they should all be adequate and cost-effective, and insiders don’t vote for either.