Barnet Council awards Capita contract extension

Capita has been awarded a contract extension to offer providers together with IT to Barnet Council, because the native authority strikes providers again in-house.

The deal to ship again workplace providers corresponding to HR and finance, in addition to ship IT, could possibly be price as much as £57m.

In July, the London Borough Council introduced it was ending its outsourcing contract with Capita, initially signed in 2013, in 2026. This adopted members of the council’s coverage and sources committee voting in favour of ending the contract.

It was initially often called the One Barnet programme, and was seen as a flagship for councils for the longer term. However, through the years, there have been considerations over the standard of supply of the contract. Labour, which now controls the council, pledged in its manifesto to carry privatised providers again in-house. 

Part of the plan to transition again to in-house providers included extending some contracts with Capita.

At the time the contract ending was introduced, Barry Rawlings, present chief of Barnet Council, mentioned HR and finance shall be prolonged for simply 12 months. “However, IT, customer services and revenues and benefits are more complicated to bring back straight away, and doing so would cost council taxpayers £2.6m each year, which would result in redundancies and cuts to services,” he added.

Capita will proceed to offer HR and accounts payable providers to the top of August 2024. It may also proceed to ship IT, buyer providers and income, and advantages providers for a further two and a half years. Meanwhile, some providers not coated by these extensions shall be returned to be run by the council from September 2023.

Capita mentioned it would work with the council to modernise its IT infrastructure.

“The extension of our contract with Barnet Council reflects the strength of our long-term relationship with the council,” mentioned Al Murray, CEO for Capita Public Service. ”It additionally highlights our deal with creating higher outcomes by the supply of important providers for the area people.

“From next September onward, we will support the council by investing in and enhancing its digital capabilities,” he added. “We will also be providing stable and continuous delivery of services that residents and businesses interact with every day.”