Serco claims Glasgow Council illegally awarded £400m IT contract to CGI

Serco claims that Glasgow City Council didn't follow an open competitive process before awarding £400m contract to CGI

Glasgow City Council is facing a legal challenge over its decision to award a major IT services contract to CGI without a tender process.

Serco is currently Glasgow City Council's supplier for its ACCESS IT services project. However, its contract finishes on at the end of March next year and the Council has already agreed a huge deal, worth up to £400m, with rival CGI to be the new supplier of IT services for the council.

But Serco is challenging the Council's decision because it believes that it didn't make the procurement process open and competitive.

"We have consistently said that we believe a decision to directly award the contract to CGI without an open competitive process would be illegal under Scottish law," said Liz Benison, chief executive of Serco's UK & Europe local and regional government division.

"Despite six months of attempted engagement with Council officers, we were not given any convincing legal justification for the direct award, leaving us with no choice but to legally challenge the decision.

"By refusing to hold an open and fair competition, the previous administration failed to ensure they were getting the best IT service and the best value for money for Glasgow's taxpayers.

"We would urge the new administration to reconsider the decision and hold a competitive process in which Glasgow residents can have confidence," she said.

But Glasgow City Council dismissed the challenge as a common occurrence. "We have received a challenge to the contract from Serco, which is being assessed. Challenges to procurement are not uncommon," a Council spokesperson said.

The Council will be legally challenged over claims that it breached the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015.

However, the Council will point to Edinburgh Council's £186m deal with CGI as a way in which it could have contracted with CGI indirectly.

However, it is unclear whether the contract was a framework agreement, although the tender notice for the City of Edinburgh's contract did enable other local authorities to use the services provided by CGI.

Lawyers will question whether this offer was taken up by Glasgow City Council, or indeed other local authorities, before the procurement closed.