The future is contract

Representatives of the branch joined the TUS to meet with the three bidders for SPVA's Future Contract at Centurion this week.

CSC (Computer Sciences Corporation), Capita and a consortium comprising of HP and XP (Hewlett Packard and Xafinity Paymaster) presented their bids.

Bearing in mind that PCS are fundamentally opposed to further privitisation of SPVA or indeed any public services, we at least came away with a sense of our preferred bidder.

Imagine our surprise when returning to the office we discover that Prime Minister David Cameron said on that day that CSC had been suspended from new NHS contracts while the future of the £4.7bn patient record programme is assessed.

Tory MP for Norfolk Richard Bacon said the NHS IT programme "will never deliver on its early promise, that in particular CSC has failed with Lorenzo and that, rather than squandering £4.7bn that is still unspent, the solution is to negotiate a way forward that frees up billions of pounds for the benefit of patients."

Cameron agreed and said: "There are no plans to sign any new contract with Computer Sciences Corporation until the National Audit Office report has been reviewed and until the Public Accounts Committee meetings and the Major Projects Authority reviews have taken place."

He said the Department of Health and the Cabinet Office were considering all options including terminating the contract completely.

CSC shares fell 1.6 per cent on the news.

The £12.7bn National Programme for IT has missed almost every target it set itself and broke almost every rule of successful project management.

It is perhaps to be noted also that Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) announced in an 8-K form that on January 28, 2011, the company was notified by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission that the Commission has commenced a formal civil investigation relating to company’s previously disclosed accounting adjustments in company’s Managed Services Sector segment, primarily in Europe’s Nordic region. The company said it is cooperating with the commission’s investigation.

We say that this is all just par for the course. Privitisation and PFI's have all been costly mistakes. Private companies are incompatible with our public service ethos of service first. All these mainly American companies are interested in are profits... at any cost to us, the taxpayers, and to the law it seems.