Bradford accused of flouting consultation rules in £100m outsourcing

Bradford council management has been accused of ignoring staff and union consultation procedures during the planning of a £100m deal to outsource the authority's IT function - a claim that the council denies.

Unions are currently balloting 135 IT workers at Bradford Metropolitan District Council over strike action if staff are not given the option of secondment instead of permanent transfer to the selected IT supplier. The unions have warned that vital council services, including benefit collection, will be hit if members vote for an 'all out' strike.

Unison and the GMB union claim that the council has refused to talk to them about the terms of transfer for affected IT staff.

A Unison spokesman told silicon.com: "Management have failed to comply with their own procedures about consultation and evaluation of the bids regarding Unison involvement in those processes. They have failed to comply with the wishes of elected members and guidance from Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, which instructed them that the unions should be involved in the evaluation process."

The spokesman said the unions have had to contact the bidders, who include Atos KPMG, Cap Gemini Ernst & Young and IBM/ITNet, directly for information about the outsourcing plans.

A Bradford Council spokesman dismissed the claims and said the unions will be consulted at the correct stage of the process.

"The Council has both a consultation plan and an evaluation process, which are being followed in this case. We are also following the recommendations of the Council’s Executive, which is made up of senior elected members," he said. "We are following the guidance from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the unions will be fully involved in the evaluation process at the appropriate times."

The results of the ballot are expected on Monday.