MORE than £2million of taxpayers’ money is set to be saved after ‘essential back office functions’ of the county council were privatised.
The authority has agreed a deal with Liberta to run a number of services, including employee recruitment and financial advice to schools, over the next seven years.
As part of the contract, the company has pledged to create more jobs and offer 25 apprenticeships.
Coun Marc Bayliss, cabinet member for transformation and commissioning, said they had received a number of bidders once they put Transactional HR and Finance Services out to tender in February 2014.
But speaking at a cabinet meeting on Thursday, September 24, Coun Bayliss said Liberta stood out among the rest as it already delivered services for a number of councils, including North Somerset, Croydon and London Borough of Bromley.
“We have a partner here which has a strong track record in delivering services in this area,” he said.
“They are offering to retain the workforce within Worcestershire and indeed grow that whilst offering us a saving of in excess of £2million.
“That is important in order for us to maintain our other key front-line services within the financial envelope that we face.”
Liberta is considered to be a leading provider of business process, technology and cloud services to the UK public and private sector. It has 2,000 staff on its books across 20 UK business centres and Coun Bayliss said the company was also looking to create at Worcestershire base.
<b>Main Player</b>
Coun John Campion, cabinet member for children and families, said he was delighted the council had attracted a ‘main player’ in the area.
“It is about making sure we get the right value for money for what is essentially back office functions,” he said.
“Our communities expect these things to be done at the most efficient price so we can ensure the appropriate recourses are channelled toward those front-line services they value every day.
“I think this particular proposal allows us to save a significant amount of money, so for me it is a win-win.
“It is an excellent piece of work which has taken a long time but we have come to an excellent conclusion for taxpayers.”
