We have written extensively on the long (and we suspect, at times, trying) journey that BT has been on with Cornwall Council. Most recently we commented in February in ‘More uncertainty for BT at Cornwall’ when, following the withdrawal of one of the potential shared services partners from the programme (Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust – RCHT), the remaining organisations – Cornwall Council, Peninsula Community Health and Cornwall Foundation Partnership Trust – returned to considering the viability of the project.
Considering how long it has taken to get to this point, and all the uncertainty along the way, those involved in negotiating the deal at BT must be breathing a collective sigh of relief this week. The council’s Cabinet has finally agreed to award BT the ten-year shared services contract (albeit slimmed down from the initial scope). And both Peninsula Community Health and Cornwall Foundation Partnership Trust have remained part of the deal.
Under the contract BT has guaranteed savings of £17.6m over ten years and the creation of 510 new jobs. It has also promised to protect 181 local jobs. Such commitments are now commonplace in local government contracts (see UK local government market trends & forecasts 2012). One of the more interesting aspects of the IT outsourcing deal is that it also involves the development of a telehealth hub to expand the County’s service reach; which Cornwall Council believes has the potential to generate further employment and income opportunities. Subscribers can read more on our views of the telehealth market in ‘Telehealth: the next big thing’. Neil Rogers, President, Government, BT Global Services, also highlights that the contract sees Cornwall making the most of its investment with BT in Super Fast Broadband (SFBB).