04/08/08 - Council’s support services to stay in the borough

Cabinet on Tuesday (5 August) approved the Support Services Project Board’s recommendation that the council enters into a partnership with Steria for the provision of IT, council tax and benefits, the customer contact centre, reception and switchboard services.

The partnership will see the council make a projected saving of £500,000 per annum over the next twelve years.  Steria have agreed to develop a centre of excellence in Welwyn Hatfield to manage the services and have confirmed that there will be no job losses.  They will also use Welwyn Hatfield Council services as a base to provide similar services to other authorities in Hertfordshire and beyond.

Leader of the Council, Councillor John Dean said: “In considering the report, the council’s key aim was to deliver high quality, value for money services.

“The Support Services Project Board has worked through a rigorous tender process to ensure the current excellent quality of services provided by the council in these areas will not be compromised in any way.  Steria already work with several other local authorities, so they are aware of the sector and the specific needs of a borough council, which  reflected well when the proposal was discussed at Cabinet .”