§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement about the privatisation of the data centre in Bootle; what redundancies have ensued; if these redundancies were referred to by the Sema Group in its bid to take over the running of the centre; and what funding his Department provided towards the cost of redundancies.
§ Mr. HowardHome Office administrative information technology services have been the subject of a market test under the Government's "Competing for Quality" programme. As previously announced in reply to a question on 19 July 1994,Official Report, column 176, following the conclusion of the test, it was decided to award a contract for the supply of these services to Sema Group plc. Its bid was judged to represent best value for money following an evaluation on the basis of the full costs to the Home Office of the competing bids.
With some limited exceptions, staff in the undertaking were transferred to Sema Group under the terms of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981. The Home Office did not make any staff redundant: subsequent redundancies by Sema Group are a matter for the company.
In submitting its bid, Sema Group made it clear that the number of staff required for the provision of services under the contract would be dependent on the outcome of an operational review which they would conduct, if awarded the contract.
All payments to Sema Group in connection with the services subject to the market test, including payments associated with their transitional and restructuring costs, have been made in accordance with the contract for the supply of IT services, the precise details of which are commercial in confidence.