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HTV West Eye View: Public Money, Private Gain: IBM SouthWestOne privatisation of police

486 views · Published 21 June 2012 · 23:19 · Indexed 21 September 2026

Channel: Public Enquiry · 2012 · News & Politics

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Privatisation of SW local government
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South West One is an outfit born in secrecy and reliant on secrecy," claimed Ian Liddell-Grainger, the MP for Bridgwater in a speech in Parliament. South West One came into being in September 2007 after six months of negotiations between Somerset County Council, Taunton Deane Borough Council, Avon & Somerset Police and IBM. Its aim is to provide all office services for the three public bodies, like human resources, reception services and I.T... But is the deal good for council taxpayers of Somerset? The business plan and contract were kept secret, even from local government union Unison... West Eye View had to force the hands of both councils to see the contract by using the Audit Commission Act. Even having gained access, IBM made a last-minute request that information be kept from us. Somerset County Council sought legal advice over this request... There was further controversy in the months leading up to the signing of the deal when the project was named ISIS, Improving Services In Somerset. The person brought in to run the project, Susan Barnes, was the wife of the chief constable of Avon & Somerset Police, Colin Port... Ms Barnes was employed as a consultant, brought in under the council's emergency procedures, for 20 months until the deal was signed in September 2007. During that period she earned more than £208,000. The programme also asks what has happened to the former deputy leader of the council, Paul Buchanan, who was a senior councillor involved in the ISIS project and now finds himself the subject of a Standards Board inquiry into his conduct... complaints were made about him by the chief executive of Somerset County Council Alan Jones... a judgment on some of the complaints exonerated him. Cllr Buchanan has support from an unexpected quarter. Ian Liddell-Grainger said: "I have a lot of sympathy for Paul Buchanan. We've crossed swords as you can well imagine when he was deputy leader... I will say this: I'm on the House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee and we are going to look at this... why is a chief executive taking a deputy leader of a council to the Standards Board?"

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