Shrouded in Secrecy - The Somerset Public/ Private Partnership
UNISON has worked closely with ITV’s West Eye View to expose the truth about the secrecy behind the public/ private partnership with three public bodies and IBM.
IBM set up a company called Southwest One to take over services within Somerset County Council, Taunton Deane Borough Council and the Avon & Somerset Police Authority.
Nigel Behan, Branch Secretary at
“It is vital that as members of the public, as electors and council tax payers, that we have access to all non-personal information available about this contract.”
Southwest One have take over the jobs of 1,400 staff on the same terms and conditions as they had previously, yet at the same time they had given an undertaking to make savings of tens of millions of pounds over the ten year contract.
West Eye View interviewed numerous critics who are unhappy with the deal. One is Professor Dexter Whitfield, who was employed by local government union Unison to look at the venture. He believes South West One will lead to job losses and may not deliver.
He said: “They talk about the social transformation of
UNISON have expressed concerns about the way in which this contract has been carried out and the lack of consultation with the union and with the general public.
The ITV West Eye View programme is being aired tonight, Thursday 24 July 2008, at 7.30 pm on ITV1.
Further information and articles can be seen at:
The Somerset County UNISON Branch UNISON website
Computer Weekly - IT Services and Outsourcing - 23 Jul 2008
IBM seeks to stop council divulging £400m contract details
Computer Weekly - Staffing and Training - 5 October 2007
Somerset Councils sign £400m IT services deal with IBM
James Barlow`s website
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PUBLIC MONEY, PRIVATE GAIN
TX date: July 24 2008 @ 7.30pm on ITV1
EMBARGO: midnight Wednesday July 23
WEST EYE VIEW reveals how a public/private partnership involving two local councils, a police force and computer giant IBM has tried to keep its plans secret from the people it serves, even though it’s spending half a billion pounds of their money.
“South West One is an outfit born in secrecy and reliant on secrecy.”
Claimed Ian Liddell-Grainger, the MP for Bridgwater in a speech in Parliament.
South West One came into being in September last year after six months of negotiations between Somerset County Council, Taunton Deane Borough Council, Avon & Somerset Police and IBM.
Its aim is to provide all the back offices services for the three public bodies - like human resources, reception services and information technology – cheaper and more efficiently. South West One has taken over the jobs of 1,400 staff on the same terms and conditions and has promised tens of millions of pounds in savings over the next decade.
Many critics have found it hard to make a judgment on whether or not the deal is a good one for the council taxpayers of
The three public partners say South West One was one of the most scrutinised projects ever. But last month the county council’s own leader of the Opposition raised his concerns.
“…the negotiations have been shrouded in secrecy with all the details hidden from most of us councillors,” Cllr Ken Maddock told a meeting of the full council.
West Eye View had to force the hands of the both councils to see the contract detail by using open government law – the Audit Commission Act. Even having gained access, IBM made a last-minute request that some information was still kept from us. Somerset County Council has sought legal advice over this request. West Eye View will go to court if access continues to be denied.
Despite this secrecy,
“Part of the problems that we’ve had as a council..is that we were forever salami-slicing, you know “let’s nip a bit off here in order to pay a bit more there, let’s slice a bit more off that service in order to be able to boost that service a little bit and you can’t go on like that,” said Cllr Jill Shortland (Lib Dem), Somerset County Council leader.
Alan Jones, chief executive of Somerset County Council said:
“We have a ten-year plan here in
West Eye View has interviewed numerous critics who are unhappy with the deal. One is Professor Dexter Whitfield, who was employed by local government union Unison to look at the venture. He believes South West One will lead to job losses and may not deliver.
He said: “They talk about the social transformation of
West Eye View has also learned that the months leading up to the signing of the deal were not plain sailing, particularly for Somerset County Council – when the project was named ISIS, Improving Services In Somerset.
Questions were raised over the fact that the person brought in to run the project, Susan Barnes, was the wife of the chief constable of Avon & Somerset Police, Colin Port. Although there is no suggestion of any conflict of interest in her appointment, it has been criticised.
Ms Barnes was employed as a consultant – brought in under the council’s emergency procedures – for the 20 months until the deal was signed in September 2007. During that contracted period she earned more than £208,000. (Editor’s note: we can supply documents to support this if required).
The programme also asks what has happened to the former deputy leader of the council, Paul Buchanan, who was a senior councillor involved in the
Dozens of complaints have been made about him by the chief executive of Somerset County Council Alan Jones. Cllr Buchanan has been thrown out of the ruling Liberal Democrat group and removed from all the committees on which he served.
West Eye View is unable to go into detail about the inquiry into Cllr Buchanan’s conduct for legal reasons. Although this week – (Tuesday July 22) – a judgment on some of the complaints made about him was released. It said there was no evidence of any failure to comply with the Code of Conduct.
Cllr Buchanan has found support from an unexpected quarter.
“I have a lot of sympathy for Paul Buchanan. We’ve crossed swords as you can well imagine when he was deputy leader…I think it’s appalling. But I will say this, I’m on the Public Administration Select Committee and we are going to look at this, this is not the way to behave…why is a chief executive taking a deputy leader of a council to the Standards Board. It beggars belief,” Ian Liddell-Grainger MP told West Eye View.
Despite these personal issues, South West One was created in September last year. It is unique in that it is the first public/private venture to involve local authorities and a police force. It also has a framework agreement which 33 other public organisations have signed. This means that they can, if they wish, join and hand over their back room services as well. In fact the success of the venture might just depend on it.
All three public partners stand by their decision to create this joint venture company even though they know it’s a risky business. Interested parties – including ITV West – will be talking to the three parties again this time next year to see if IBM has started to deliver on its promises to the 1.5 million people served by them.
Public Money, Private Gain is a part of ITV West’s award-winning current affairs series West Eye View. It will be shown on ITV at 7.30pm on Thursday July 24. It’s presented by ITV West’s head of features and current affairs James Garrett and produced by Fiona Scott.