Whitehall mulls plan to sell off back-office IT

Whitehall mandarins are mulling the plan

The government is looking to privatise some of its back-office IT functions as part of the £16bn asset sale announced earlier this week, according to reports.

On Sunday, prime minister Gordon Brown announced a scheme to raise money by selling some state assets such as the Tote bookmaker and the student loans company.

"This can best be done in, or in partnership with, the private sector, potentially via new forms of public service companies," he said.

But the Wall Street Journal claims that the plans go further than those mentioned in the statement, and could see human resources, back-office services and IT assets bundled into a company and sold, citing sources.

Also citing sources, a report on the Sky News web site said: "These companies could ultimately be a home for thousands of civil servants working in areas such as human resources, IT, payroll and property. They could then operate under long-term contracts awarded by government."

Both reports emphasised that this was still just an idea being considered by some Whitehall civil servants and not an actual plan.

Such a move would fit with the government's vision of a greater role for the private and third sectors in the delivery of public services.

However, critics of private-sector involvement in government IT projects over the past 10 years will say that such deals are doomed to failure.