Council locked into IT contract for 20 years

by DOUG COLLIE

A behind closed doors move by Scottish Borders Council to extend the outsourcing of its ICT services until the year 2040, and involving public expenditure of £30 million, has been disclosed for the first time in a memo to the authority's 4,000 staff by chief executive Tracey Logan.

However critics are already suggesting SBC should justify the decision to lengthen its contract with suppliers CGI at such an early stage of a 13-year deal which was only signed in 2016 at a cost to Borders council taxpayers of £92 million. The arrangement will remain in place until 2029 with an option for a six-year extension. But now the intention is to stick with CGI for a further five years after that.

The first public indication of the proposed multi-million pound extension was contained in a low-key notice posted earlier this week by SBC on the Scottish Government's Public Contracts website.

The so-called VEAT [Voluntary Ex Ante Transparency] notice allows other interested parties a short period in which to register an interest. But the Conservative-led local authority's elected members are expected to sanction the huge commitment of public funds at a meeting towards the end of September.

The issue has never been discussed in public by councillors, and it is not clear whether there is any opposition to the proposals because of the secrecy surrounding the planned contract extension.

The VEAT notice states: "The provision of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) Services and Transformation to Scottish Borders Council. The Council intends to extend the current established partnership and related contract with CGI by a further 5 years to take advantage of long term transformative opportunities and technologies to deliver the best possible outcomes for the Scottish Borders.

"The Council recognises the adverse effect of the current pandemic on the economy and the resulting uncertainty for the longer term. This proposal will minimise the effect of this on both employees and the community by providing security in relation to ongoing services and delivering transformation opportunities through long term investment in the Digital Borders programme."

Not Just Sheep & Rugby has been provided with a copy of the memo to staff circulated by the chief executive this week.

Mrs Logan writes:"I wanted to make you aware that the Council is proposing to extend its contract with CGI, our strategic IT partner. The partnership was originally forged in 2016 as part of a 13 year contract, which is due to run until 2029. However SBC has agreed in principle to extend this to 2040.

"By agreeing an extension at this time the Council would benefit financially and we would be able to further our Fit for 2024 transformation programme to ensure we are in the best shape to:  meet future challenges, take advantage of new opportunities, and deliver the best possible outcomes for Borders' communities."

She argues that the contract extension would allow CGI to support SBC to make sure "we are ‘fit’ to deal with the many challenges we face in a constantly changing digital world."

It would also enable the Scottish Borders region to benefit from the advancement of digitally connected communities to support improved outcomes in areas such as health, social care and "advancing our already world-leading education IT programmes.  Our new programmes will also create benefits that will support better working experiences and improved efficiencies for the Council."

Discussing the partnership with CGI so far, Mrs Logan claims the local authority and their providers

have a proven track record of working together successfully over the last four years.

But she adds: "While it is acknowledged there have been some challenges during this time both parties have worked together effectively to not only resolve these challenges but to accelerate the deployment of technology solutions; delivering real benefits ahead of schedule.

"A prime example of this is our world-leading Inspire Learning programme that has provided all Borders school pupils in P5–S6 with iPads and internet connectivity to enhance their learning both in the classroom and at home. The roll out to include P4 is now being delivered.

"CGI has been integral to the Council's operations during the COVID-19 outbreak by rolling out refreshed laptops ahead of schedule, deploying Microsoft Teams across the organisation and generally ensuring thousands of staff who are having to work from home are doing so as effectively as possible. They have also played a crucial role in the recovery from other emergency incidents; most notably the major fire at Peebles High School last year."

She concludes by confirming that the detailed business case for the extension of the CGI contract will be presented to elected members at the full Council meeting on Friday 25 September to enable a final decision on the contract extension to be made.

The transformation programme of council IT which followed the 2016 contract signing soon encountered problems with delays in implementation and missed savings targets.

In 2017 Agilisys, a company commissioned by CGI to deliver a Digital Customer Access portal, were removed from the job. The difficulties associated with the out-sourcing programme were highlighted in an Audit Scotland Best Value report on SBC last October.

When the massive financial deal was finalised back in 2016 it was announced that CGI would create 200 well paid skilled jobs at an IT centre in the Borders within five years. A total of 49 SBC staff transferred into CGI employment as part of the contract.

A technology observer told us: "The details of the contract extension are sparse with most of the information apparently being kept under wraps. But council taxpayers who will fund this huge commitment for the next 20 years will want to know what financial incentives were on offer and whether their elected representatives are paying close attention by scrutinising ICT expenditure on this mammoth scale.

"There certainly does not seem to be any apparent reason which necessitated SBC to effectively extend their arrangements with CGI from 2035 to 2040 just four years into the contract".