Agenda item

Report CEXO1630

Since taking over the Council’s IT contract in 2016, BT had performed well and the report examined the remaining in-house IT functions and the option of transferring these services to BT through a variation to the existing contract. A  thin client would be retained which would include information governance functions. This would be a key area with the introduction of the GDPR in May 2018. The proposals had considerable benefits in terms of the resilience of the service which BT, as a large organisation, could offer, greater security and prospects for staff, and the opportunity for modest savings and greater transparency on expenditure.

An additional staff consultation response had been circulated concerning the deletion of the Business Services Manager post, which was to be retained on the client side for six months to support the transition of services. The Director of Corporate Services commented that the situation would change considerably post transfer and the position would be reviewed if necessary. 

The Executive and Resources PDS Committee had commented on the Council’s disputes with another part of BT over the payment of invoices for highway works and suggested that this should be offset against the payments made by the Council to BT for IT services. Members of the Executive were also keen to ensure that the Council used its influence to resolve this issue, and the Leader stated that he required a meeting at a senior level with BT. 

RESOLVED that

(1) It is agreed that the transfer of services take effect from the 1 November 2017 for a minimum of 6 years with a total contract sum of £9.3m.

(2)  The one-off funding in 2017/18 of £62.2k for mobilisation of staff as set out in paragraph 6.9 of the report be noted and agreed, funded from the Central Contingency.

(3)  A variation in the Council’s Pensions Policy be agreed, including a fixed employer contribution rate as set out in paragraph 6.16 of the report.

(4)  £65k p.a. be set aside in an earmarked reserve funded from the BT savings for provision against potential future pension liabilities as set out in paragraph 6.8 of the report.

(5)  £279k of the overall budget be retained to fund 5 staff within the Client Unit as detailed in paragraph 3.11 of the report.

(6)  It is agreed that £180k is retained by the Client Unit for Project Support to be drawn down and allocated when required as set out in paragraphs 6.2 – 6.3 of the report.

(7) The additional savings identified by officers of £30k for Outlook archiving and Citrix Mobile working as set out in paragraph 6.10 of the report be noted.

(8)  It is noted that there may be one post made redundant as a result of these proposals amounting to £28k, to be funded from the Central Redundancy Reserve, as set out in paragraph 6.13 of the report.

(9) The outcome of staff and trade union consultation, along with the management response to any issues that may have arisen during consultation, be noted - these are set out in Appendix 1 to the report.