Lancashire County Council bids to outsource IT in £1.9billion contract (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Lancashire County Council bids to outsource IT in £1.9billion contract

3:48pm Sunday 7th February 2010 in

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UP to £1.9billion of Lancashire taxpayers’ money is set to be spent on a huge new computer contract.

In an unprecedented move, County Hall is advertising for a private-sector computer giant to help it run all of Lancashire’s IT network.

Unions said they were “concerned” about the implications for jobs in what could become Europe’s biggest IT contract.

Bosses say the 10-year deal will save taxpayers money and make services more efficient.

Police and fire authorities as well as district councils will be invited to join the contract, which is being targeted at the likes of IBM and BT.

The scale of the partnership would dwarf Blackburn with Darwen Council’s partnership with Capita Symonds, signed nine years ago.

It has already been put out to tender, and Phil Halsall, Lancashire executive director for resources, said a final decision would be made in the autumn.

A statement by the county council said the changes “had nothing to do with job cuts”.

It said: “We think the best way to continue improving our services to people in Lancashire and to save money is to form a partnership with a private company.”

Under the contract, a new company would be created between the winning bidder and the council, and would be jointly-owned by both parties.

Mr Halsall insisted this meant the arrangement would not be “outsourcing” like the government’s NHS computer contracts that were branded “catastrophic” by opposition parties.

It would have an initial value of £47million which would increase as more work was transferred into the deal.

A total of £1.9billion could go into the contract over the 10 years.

The private company would lend staff to the company and advise how services like HR and payroll, print services and running the pensions system could be made more efficient.

Council workers would be seconded to the company on the same terms and conditions.

Unison rep Carol Lukey said: “This is just outsourcing.

"If it doesn’t work out, or there turns out to be more people than are needed, which is probably the case if they are trying to save money, of course it concerns us.”