Barnet Council publishes major outsourcing contract with Capita

The London Borough of Barnet has taken the unusual step of publishing a key outsourcing contract, although the document has been redacted.

The move follows the signing in August of a ten-year contract with Capita which will see the outsourcing giant take over the running of the council’s back office services, including customer services, HR, finance and IT.

The contractual arrangements behind the establishment of the Customer and Support Group (formerly the NSCSO – the New Support and Customer Services Organisation) can be viewed here. The main contract and associated schedules run to more than 2,000 pages.

In a statement on its website, Barnet said: “The council is legally and contractually obliged to redact information that Capita has designated as confidential and commercially prejudicial. This is also consistent with statutory guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office.

“However in the interests of transparency, Capita has agreed to waive its right to keep confidential much of the information defined in the contract as commercially sensitive and confidential, so that more information is in the public domain.”

The local authority has published – as part of a guide to the contents of the contract – a summary of reasons for the redactions. It also plans to publish further details in due course.

Barnet said information had been redacted for one or more of these reasons:

• the information related to third parties and was subject to on-going commercial negotiations;
• the information was commercially sensitive and disclosure “could prejudice other contract negotiations within the sector and diminish Capita’s commercial position in the market”;
• the information refers to physical locations and is redacted to avoid bias development and regeneration negotiations.

The council said it would also publish a second major contract with Capita, relating to the provision of Development and Regulatory Services, in October.

Publication of the Customer and Support Group contract comes with a warning that the documents are the intellectual property of the London Borough of Barnet and Trowers and Hamlins.

“No part of the contracts may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express prior written permission from both the council and Trowers and Hamlins,” Barnet said.

“Any unauthorised use of these contracts without permission, particularly for any commercial gain, will constitute an actionable breach of copyright.”

Barnet believes that the two contracts will deliver £165m in savings over ten years.

The signing in August followed a lengthy legal battle after a local resident, Maria Nash, brought judicial review proceedings. The Court of Appeal rejected her claim, and Ms Nash's legal team are now understood to be seeking to take the case to the Supreme Court.

Cllr Daniel Thomas, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Policy and Performance at Barnet, said: “This is the first time any major contract between a local authority and a commercial partner of this type has been published.

“We already make up a point of being as open as possible with data – publishing performance data and risk registers and publishing decisions and FOIs by service, but this is the next step towards opening up the working of the council.

“I can’t promise this will be a light bedtime read, but for those out there interested in knowing where the contract will make future savings, it will be of enormous interest.”

Mark Wyllie, Partnership Director at Capita, said: “Residents are at the heart of the partnership’s service delivery. By publishing this information we are demonstrating our commitment to engage and be open with Barnet’s residents as we seek to collaboratively design services to meet their needs.”