‘Ground breaking’ outsourcing contracts for five councils

Five councils from different parts of the UK are set to save more than £50 million via a procurement deal thought to be the first of its kind in the UK.

Despite the parity of their geographical locations, Hart District Council and Havant Borough Council in Hampshire, Mendip District Council in Somerset and South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse District Councils in Oxfordshire have agreed to award a contract to Capita to deliver a range of corporate services including HR, IT and finance and to Vinci to provide facilities management and property services.

The nine year deal is set to save the councils more than £50 million and improve services for residents. The councils have looked part location barriers to show joint working, with the agreement being closely observed by central government and many local authorities across the country.

Subject to the contracts being signed on 31 March 2016 they’re expected to start in South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse in August 2016 and for the remaining councils between July and October 2017.

Cllr Brian Burchfield, deputy leader at Hart District Council, said: “When the opportunity to join a group with the same mind set as ours arose, we were excited to participate. Once we analysed the impact of the savings potential, as well as an improvement to the services we deliver to our residents, we were delighted to take this opportunity forward.

“This is a ground breaking contract and I invite other councils across the country to come speak to us about joining our group to discover savings for themselves.”

Elsewhere, new figures from arvato’s UK Outsourcing Index have revealed that the total amount spent by councils on outsourcing increased by 23 per cent in 2015, with deals surpassing £750 million.

The figures also showed that the average contract value rose by 30 per cent year-on-year to £37.8m, with deal lengths increasing to an average of 66 months.

Debra Maxwell, CEO of arvato UK & Ireland, said: “Authorities really focused on transforming their services to meet citizen demands and deliver new savings in 2015. We expect to see more new approaches to transformation in 2016, such as moving services entirely online, sharing services virtually, and introducing robotic process automation.”