IT Contract (Hansard, 5 November 2002)

§ Mr. Caton
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the new contractor will be required to provide(a) an employer contributed final salary pension scheme for all employees and (b) a pay and conditions system that guarantees equal pay for equal value, including for sub-contracted staff, when the contract for providing IT services to the Inland Revenue is awarded. [79453]

§ Dawn Primarolo
The invitation to tender for the procurement will apply Government policy on pensions as set out in "Staff Transfers from Central Government: A Fair Deal for Staff Pensions". An incoming supplier will be required to adhere to this policy and apply it to all staff transferring to them. The incoming supplier will also be obliged to comply with all UK laws and regulations relating to employment and nondiscrimination.

§ Mr. Caton
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether employees will be entitled to join a trade union recognised to negotiate on pay, conditions, pensions, career development and related issues when the contract for providing IT services to the Inland Revenue is awarded. [79458]

§ Dawn Primarolo
The Inland Revenue regards human resource and personnel issues as an important element in the evaluation of any bid for the IT contract. The Department will therefore ask bidders to provide information on their intended human resources policies, including their approach to trade union recognition, as part of their response to the invitation to tender. The right to trade union recognition—along with any collective agreements—is one of the transferable rights of any employee affected by a TUPE transfer. Therefore any incoming supplier will be required to provide trade union recognition, where this exists already, for employees working on the Inland Revenue's current IT contracts. The Inland Revenue will oblige the incoming supplier to comply with all UK laws and regulations relating to employment and non-discrimination. The Inland Revenue is actively engaging both PCs and USRO in the procurement process.

§ Mr. Caton
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the new contractor will be subject to periodic independent reviews of performance when the contract for providing IT services to the Inland Revenue is awarded. [79459]

§ Dawn Primarolo
The draft contract requires the supplier to engage in a rolling programme of benchmarking to be undertaken by an independent agency to monitor performance. In addition, the Department has also specified rights for both National Audit Office and the Department's own internal audit office to be involved in reviews of systems and processes, in their respective roles, over the lifetime of the contract.