UPDATED: Somerset County Council preparing for court in escalating conflict with IBM

Council preparing for court due to dispute over Southwest One shared services scheme

IBM is in an "escalating" dispute with Somerset County Council (SCC) over the Southwest One venture designed to save local public bodies money on their IT projects.

That's according to a paper for an upcoming council meeting seen by Campaign4Change.

"The history of Southwest One's (SWo) poor performance is continuing; during 2012 the Client Team have been holding SWo to account; resulting in the serving of eight contractual notices to SWo," reads the paper.

"Over the past three weeks SWo have commenced disputes on several other matters, issuing further financial claims and disputing Somerset County Council's warning notices.

"With a number of escalating disputes, we need to take action," it adds.

Among the action points listed are improving value for money and restoring a "deteriorating relationship with a strategic supplier".

Southwest One includes SCC, Taunton Deane Borough Council, and Avon and Somerset Police along with IBM. The partnership was set up in 2007 and designed to run for 10 years with the aim of supplying better IT services to public-sector bodies.

However, the scheme has struggled with issues including delayed start dates payments to suppliers. The latest report says that the council is in dispute with IBM over the quality of the services provided and what payments are therefore due. As a result, SCC is preparing for a court case against IBM as negotiations have failed.

"The Leader of the Council authorises the Chief Executive, Deputy County Solicitor, Director of Finance & Performance and other relevant SCC officers to serve and proceed with the defence and any counterclaim, to carry out all subsequent steps in the litigation process and any engagement in connection with the disputes," said the paper.

Southwest One says that the action between them and Somerset County Council relates to the parties' agreement for Strategic Procurement Services.

"Southwest One believes that sums are contractually due and owing from Somerset County Council. Despite extensive efforts, Southwest One has been unable to resolve the matter satisfactorily and is now looking for the court to determine the issues in accordance with the agreed dispute resolution procedure," SWo said in a statement provided to Computing.

"Southwest One is continuing to provide a robust service to its partners and substantial benefits for taxpayers in the south west region," the statement added.