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Story URL: http://www.silicon.com/publicsector/0,3800010403,39156681,00.htm

Outsourcing row breaks out at Westminster City Council
'We're not forcing staff to move to Scotland or lose their jobs'

By Andy McCue

Published: Wednesday 22 February 2006

Westminster City Council has denied it is forcing almost 200 call centre staff to relocate to Scotland or face redundancy as part of its 10-year £422m business process outsourcing deal with Vertex.

The row has broken out after Vertex said it planned to relocate 180 jobs from Westminster to a call centre at Dingwall in Scotland because it could not find affordable office space in London when the lease on the current Belgravia office provided by Westminster Council expires this summer.

Vertex chose the ready-made call centre operation at Dingwall Scotland, which was vacated when the national rail enquiries service was moved to India. But public sector trade union Unison has threatened strike action if Westminster staff, originally transferred to Vertex under the terms of the outsourcing deal, who refuse to move to Dingwall are threatened with redundancy.

Unison national officer Dave Johnson said workers were stunned by the news: "This is pure economic greed at the expense of hundreds of jobs. It is simply not realistic to expect hundreds of staff to move, and uproot their families to live in such a remote area."

But Westminster City Council has denied it is forcing anyone to relocate and said everyone who transferred to Vertex is being offered the option of moving to Dingwall, an alternative position at Westminster or voluntary redundancy.

A Westminster City Council spokesman told silicon.com: "We are not forcing people to go to Dingwall or lose their jobs."

Westminster claims that relocating some back office functions to Dingwall is the most cost effective way to deliver this service to the council's residents and said staff turnover level in Dingwall is far lower than in London.

Westminster has also dismissed allegations by the GMB trade union that the decision to outsource to Vertex has cost the council £179m more than if it had kept the service in-house.

The Westminster spokesman said the GMB's figures are a complete "fabrication" and that the council has predicted it will save £30m by handing the service to Vertex.