Government agrees deal with Capgemini to bring £200m savings

Renegotiation with one of the largest IT suppliers to the government aims to offer lower prices and more flexible contracts

The government has announced a new deal with Capgemini, one of its largest IT ousourcers, which it says will deliver more than £200m in savings by 2017.

The agreement is a renegotiation of the Aspire contract, and is designed to secure more flexible contracts and better deals and prices for taxpayers.

The Aspire deal is held with HMRC and provides IT services, including desktops, laptops and various tax and credit systems such as online VAT filing.

The government expects the new deal to help deliver savings partly by reducing pricing. It will also introduce more freedom for HMRC under the contract, enabling them to run open competitions for services, opening up opportunities for more innovative SMEs, the government said.

A more transparent pricing model will facilitate this selection process, making value-for-money comparisons easier for government decision makers.

The Aspire deal was originally worth £2.8bn when it was struck with Capgemini in 2004.

Speaking at the annual procurement conference, Procurex, in Birmingham last week, Minister for the Cabinet Office Francis Maude (pictured) said that central government spending on goods and services should fall by £8bn this year, compared with 2009.

Commenting on the renegotiation of the Capgemini contract, Maude said: "We said government would operate more like a good business and that is what we are seeing.... Our message to industry is that we will keep driving to get better value for taxpayers, break up large contracts and create opportunities for new, smaller companies to enter the market.

"Last year's contract renegotiations saved £800m across suppliers and a further £140m will be delivered this year - overall we will spend £8bn less than two years ago on goods and services, but more of this will be with smaller firms."