The Cabinet Member Decision Meeting of Barnet Council on Thursday 3 September 2016 authorised the insourcing of IT End User and Managed Infrastructure services. This decision was made after a procurement process for a new IT contract was abandoned due to the preferred bidder attempting to significantly increase their bid costs.

IT End User & Managed Infrastructure - Authorisation to In-house Service Provision

The council has decided to bring its IT End User and Managed Infrastructure services back in-house, with effect from 1 October 2016. This decision follows the abandonment of a procurement process for a new outsourced IT contract. The original plan was to award a contract through a mini-competition under the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) Framework RM6190 Technology Services 4. However, the council's preferred bidder sought to substantially increase its bid costs after the initial submission and evaluation, which was not permissible under procurement regulations.

Councillor Barry Rawlings, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Strategic Partnerships, Economy and Effective Council, explained that the additional costs requested by the merged company were primarily related to pension and redundancy costs. He noted that the council would have budgeted for these full costs anyway, making the in-house option financially equivalent to the revised external bid.

Concerns were raised about potential risks associated with insourcing, including single points of failure and the potential for a loss of knowledge and innovation. In response, it was stated that a risk mitigation plan is being developed and will be shared with the Cross-Party Member Reference Group. The report highlighted that many IT staff wish to remain with the council, which mitigates the risk of knowledge loss. Furthermore, the council has completed its IT modernisation projects, migrating networks and data centres to the cloud, and is establishing strategic relationships with major suppliers like Microsoft and Meraki. To manage the transition and ongoing contracts, the council is bringing in IT procurement and contract management expertise.

The decision to insource was made because the council determined that the financial and service benefits of bringing the service in-house were preferable to continuing with a hybrid model or seeking an alternative provider. Extending the existing contract with Capita Business Services Ltd was not considered a viable option due to the limited time available to de-risk the planned transition. The report also noted that the council's Digital, Data and Technology operating model review is progressing, which will allow for the integration of staff and accelerate plans to take greater control over the council's technology and data infrastructure.

The meeting authorised the Executive Director for Strategy and Innovation to take all necessary steps for the insourcing of IT End User and Infrastructure Managed Services and to manage the implementation of TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations) and the transition of the workforce from Capita Business Services Ltd to the London Borough of Barnet. Councillor Peter Zinkin, Leader of the Conservative Group, expressed his agreement with the recommendations.