Council’s £150m outsourcing deal nears completion

Swansea Council expects its controversial £150m IT outsourcing initiative to be completed by July, after IT staff were given assurances over their terms and conditions during the 10-year deal.

The ‘service@swansea’ deal, which will see about 70% of the council’s IT staff move to consultancy firm Capgemini, has been plagued by problems, with Unison union members holding an eight-week strike last autumn in protest at the lack of consultation.

But following intense negotiations between the authority and staff, which included weekly meetings with Capgemini, Swansea expects the transfer to be completed by 1 July.

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Under the terms of the deal, IT staff who transfer to Capgemini will have contractual guarantees protecting terms and conditions, location of work and their local government pensions.

Mary Jones, council cabinet member for the service@swansea deal, said: “We have listened carefully to staff and have agreed a range of measures to ensure protection of terms and conditions.”