NEWS BT has signed a £330m pioneering local government deal which will see it form a joint venture with two councils.
The ten-year deal will cost Suffolk County Council £30m a year, with Mid-Suffolk District Council chipping in another £3m a year. BT says that it will invest £50m in new systems and resources over the term of the contract.
The councils are at pains to point out that the money will come out of existing budgets. The joint venture is designed to deliver a range of services to the councils' residents. BT has teamed up with Canadian outsourcing specialist CGI Group for the contract.
Bryony Rudkin, leader of Suffolk County Council, said: "In the future, people will no longer need to be passed between several departments, or even one council to another, when they get in touch. I think that no one should have to hunt for basic services.
"We are now looking forward to making improvements to make life easier for our customers."
The joint venture aims to set up a single customer service centre to manage all public access points across the county. Public access will be either through the web or through a series of 'one-stop shops' to be established so that they will be within 15 minutes' travel for 99 per cent of Mid-Suffolk's population.
The new system is also designed to provide a single point of access for all council services and for health and social care services.
