SouthWest One is a Joint Venture company set up in 2007 by Somerset County Council, Taunton Deane Council and now including Avon and Somerset Police. I have nothing against joint ventures in principle, but this one was born in a most peculiar manner and offers 75%+ to IBM. It was and remains a huge and risky venture for public sector partners. It could cost taxpayers £400 million. I always believed there had been excessive secrecy about the negotiations to form it, justifyable suspicion about the roles of several leading players and a totally unrealistic business plan. Since the County Council elections in June 2009 a change of administration at County Hall has seen the departure of the Chief Executive, Alan Jones, and a review of the SouthWest One. I am now more relaxed abut the ability of the politicians to keep tabs on an IBM-dominated company.

This page offers a snapshot of what went wrong.

I made my first Parliamentary speech about the subject on March 26th 2008. I continued to attack the secretive methods used to establish the company and made another speech on June 17th in the House. The campaign continued relentlessly with several bitter public skirmishes with Somerset County Council's then Chief Executive. But I stuck to my guns. In March 2009 I secured another debate to raise all the issues. My fire was primarily directed at the SCC's Chief Executive, but also included genuine concerns about the role of Avon and Somerset's Police Chief and the "independent" chairman Sir Jay Tidmarsh.

I do not know Sir James (Jay) Tidmarsh personally. He served as Lord Lieutenant of Bristol. His credentials obviously impressed the IBM dominated mob who pull the strings at SouthWest One. He looked like the "respectable" face of local capitalism.

"He will work with the board and will be responsible for implementing the overall strategy of the project and for the integrity of the private/public partnership. Sir James joins a team set on delivering value and improved services to the people and communities of the local area.

Sir James has many links with Avon and Somerset Police. There's no crime in that. Except that Avon and Somerset Police now hugely outnumber all other participants in their representation on the SouthWest One Board. The Chief Constable - Colin Port - sits there (why does nobody raise at least an eyebrow at the idea of a police chief being on the board of a company from which his force buys services?)

It is also well worth remembering that the original deals with IBM were brokered by Sue Barnes - who happens to be Mrs Colin Port.

Sir James may turn out to be the only good thing to emerge from SouthWest One. Or he may be just another semi-retired local hero who comes complete with a knighthood and has been appointed because his track record looks respectable (which might impress potential new clients).But he was also hired to be independent, to think independently and to act in the best interests of all those who do not have a voice in this muddle.Sir James therefore has to prove his independence. And prove it fast. He should meet the unions. He should insist that his company recognises and negotiates with the unions. He should not allow his company to shelter behind a constant cloak of secrecy.Good on him if he does.But I will be have his guts for garters if he fails.

Sadly the working policemen I meet don't have faith in SouthWest One. Some of them are now putting pen to paper. And this is an example - from an officer who doesn't want to lose a shirt:

 

“I, along with colleagues, submitted an annual shirt request about 3 months ago. I sent a message recently asking when the shirts would arrive. I got a reply e-mailed from the supplies Dept via my supervisor stating that the Chief Officer Group had asked that no shirts be issued until further notice except "emergency issue". Why this is one can only guess. Perhaps they are going to change our shirts to a different colour? or perhaps a cynic would say they may be changing supplier!

We have recently received e-mails informing us that as of Feb 09 we (All Police personnel) will be paid via SW1 and our pay slip will be via e-mail, not sent to our home addresses.  I have heard that SW1 have control of many Dept budgets and even Departments not budget controlled by SW1 are effectively having their budgets/orders cancelled by Departments who issue them with funds. Some vehicle purchases were cancelled recently as funding had been withheld from the Dept requiring them at Yeovil.

I do not feel in a position to directly challenge the changes that are going on .......I want to keep my job! ,but I think I can speak for my colleagues, both  Police and civilian, and say we get the feeling there is a lot of going- on behind the scenes that will affect our futures.

 I would like to thank you for your concerns in this matter and congratulate you for bringing this issue to light.”

 

 

There is also major discontent within Unison members in Avon and Somerset Police.  Tempers reached fever pitch because so many changes were made so quickly without proper consultation. Somerset County Council found itself before an industrial tribunal in October 2008 for similar reasons. It is still unclear what SouthWest One's attitude to union recognition really is. IBM prefers to ignore trade unions.

 

Back in June the Association of Chief Police Officers launched a brave new procurement strategy to encourage forces to work together - a golden opportunity for Avon and Somerset to start selling SouthWest One to its neighbours:

The moment Avon and Somerset signed up to SouthWest One the Police Authority produced a report advocating cooperation with the new company

Readers will also note a reference to the Avon and Somerset led programme for a new cross-force initiative on forensic services (See P3 "Collaborative Working"). Natually I am as keen as anyone that our police forces should offer value for money. But I cannot help harbouring a scintilla of suspicion. Mr Port is now a virtual salesman for SouthWest One, the Chairman, Sir James Tidmarsh, has also been in the business of flogging forensic services via one of the companies of which he was a long-serving director:

ACPO may want to see forces cooperate. But Police Authorities in Devon and Cornwall, Dorset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire would be well advised to go through the small print of SouthWest One in forensic detail.

MORE POLICE FACTS: There are 39 police stations in Avon and Somerset at present. But SouthWest One wants to "streamline" the service. If they get their cost-cutting way the number of police stations with "inquiry desks" will fall to 19. The back office staff - the clerks who deal with the public - will be thinned out and disposed of. IBM have an undistinguished track record when it comes to the police. I invite you to read two accounts of their costly cock up over fingerprinting:

“The Automatic Fingerprint Recognition Consortium, comprising more than three-quarters of Britain’s police forces, has sued IBM over an electronic fingerprinting system they claim doesn’t work. The system, purchased in 1992, is supposed to match fingerprints taken from a crime scene with those on file in a database. The group is seeking unspecified damages from Big Blue, and has canceled its contract, citing ’serious and long-standing failures in the service.’ Meanwhile, IBM insists the system works, pointing out that more than 125,000 fingerprints have been matched since it was installed. IBM plans to fight the lawsuit. (Wall Street Journal 3/31/95 B8)”

 

Well the case DID go ahead..... as IBM's lawyer admits on her website:

 

"....................in a highly publicised multi-million pound dispute regarding the provision of an Automatic Fingerprint Recognition System to a network of 37 UK police forces resulted in a satisfactory settlement after 20 days in trial in the Technology and Construction Court in 1998."

 

IBM paid a substantial, but undisclosed sum, to settle the case quietly.

 

Guess who's the new Chief Executive of Avon and Somerset Police Authority?

 

John Smith is a lawyer with a cheesy grin. He brokered the deal between Avon and Somerset Police and SouthWest One. Jobs for the boys yet again.

 

 This is a floor plan of IBM's huge data centre in Warwick.

Soon all of Somerset's computer records will be dealt with and handled here. That means that your council tax details, your housing record, your children's education facts and all manner of sensitive information will be piped up a cable to IBM's base on the outskirts of the historic castle town.

Warwick is a fine place to visit. But it is not Somerset. And the people who created SouthWest One promised that the computer systems IBM was providing would be based in our county.

The final question is critical. By allowing IBM to store crucial records makes the county totally beholden to a commercial company. There is no back-up if the existing contract is ever severed.

If you want to share information with me about these or any other matters

here's how: ianliddellgrainger@hotmail.co.uk

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