Potential impacts of an IBM disposal or exit from South West One?

The request was partially successful.

Dear Avon and Somerset Constabulary,

IBM has sold its Global Customers Services and this may impact on the South West One joint venture (75% owned by IBM) possibly resulting in a disposal or contract exit:

http://www.infoworld.com/d/the-industry-...

The South West One accounts to 31st December 2012 show that South West One is only a “Going Concern” thanks to parent company guarantees and substantial loans by IBM.

Loans from IBM that are now South West One liabilities amount to a total of £47.9m.

The three public partners own 25% of South West One.

a) What shareholding in South West One does you organisation currently hold?

b) Does this shareholding give your organisation a share of the £47.9m IBM loan liability? If so, what is the value of your share of that £47.9m IBM loan liability ?

c) If IBM wished to dispose of its 75% shareholding in South West One to another company, could that disposal take place without the agreement of all three of the public partners?

d) Can the contract for South West One with IBM be exitted with the agreement of all parties? If so, how are liabilities, assets and loss of future earnings shared between partners?

Please supply a copy of the contract schedule for the South West One joint venture that governs disposal by IBM of their South West One shareholding.

Please supply a copy of the contract schedule for the South West One joint venture that governs contract exit and the division of liabilities, assets and lost future earnings between partners.

Yours faithfully,

Dave Orr

Dear Avon and Somerset Constabulary,

Why hasn't this FOI been acknowledged as received?

Yours faithfully,

Dave Orr

Samantha Carpenter, Avon and Somerset Constabulary

 

 

 

Corporate Information Management Department

Force Headquarters, PO Box 37, Valley Road,

Portishead, Bristol, BS20 8QJ

Facsimile 01275 814667

    

 

Private Our Reference 777/13

Mr Dave Orr Your reference  
Date 1^st October
[FOI #176681 email] 2013

 

Dear Mr Orr

 

I write in connection with your request for information dated the 11^th of
September 2013 relating to Procurement. This request will be dealt with
under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

 

Your request will now be considered and you will receive a response within
the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the Act, In some
circumstances Avon and Somerset Constabulary may be unable to achieve this
deadline if consideration needs to be given to the public interest test.
If this is likely you will be informed and given a revised time-scale at
the earliest opportunity.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

J Lovell

 

Freedom of Information Officer

Corporate Information Management Department

 

Please note;

1.     Requests and responses may be published on Avon and Somerset
Constabulary’s website (within 24 hours), some of which may contain a link
to additional information, which may provide you with further
clarification.

2.     Whilst we may verbally discuss your request with you in order to
seek clarification, all other communication should be made in writing.

3.     Avon and Somerset Constabulary provides you with the right to
request a re-examination of your case under its review procedure.

 

 

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Tom Hodder left an annotation ()

20 days from September 13th I hope...

#Freedom of Information Requests, Avon and Somerset Constabulary

1 Attachment

Corporate Information Management Department

Force Headquarters, PO Box 37, Valley Road,

Portishead, Bristol, BS20 8QJ

Facsimile 01275 814667

Email [email address]

Opening Hours: 08:00 – 17:00

 

 

Private Our Reference 783/13

Mr David Orr Your reference  

[1][FOI #176681 email] Date 11 October
2013
 

   

Dear Mr Orr

 

I write in response to your Freedom of Information request dated 13^th
September concerning the South West One joint venture. Specifically you
asked: IBM has sold its Global Customers Services and this may impact on
the South West One joint venture (75% owned by IBM) possibly resulting in
a disposal or contract exit:

 

[2]http://www.infoworld.com/d/the-industry-...

 

The South West One accounts to 31st December 2012 show that South West One
is only a “Going Concern” thanks to parent company guarantees and
substantial loans by IBM.

 

Loans from IBM that are now South West One liabilities amount to a total
of £47.9m.

 

The three public partners own 25% of South West One.

 

Q1. What shareholding in South West One does you organisation currently
hold?

 

Avon & Somerset Constabulary and the PCC hold a joint 8.25% share in South
West One.

 

Q2. Does this shareholding give your organisation a share of the £47.9m
IBM loan liability? If so, what is the value of your share of that £47.9m
IBM loan liability?

 

No, liability for any losses does not fall to the public partners.

 

Q3. If IBM wished to dispose of its 75% shareholding in South West One to
another company, could that disposal take place without the agreement of
all three of the public partners?

 

No

 

Q4. Can the contract for South West One with IBM be exited with the
agreement of all parties? If so, how are liabilities, assets and loss of
future earnings shared between partners?

 

Yes. No shareholder is compelled to accept liabilities.

 

Q5. Please supply a copy of the contract schedule for the South West One
joint venture that governs disposal by IBM of their South West One
shareholding.

Q6. Please supply a copy of the contract schedule for the South West One
joint venture that governs contract exit and the division of liabilities,
assets and lost future earnings between partners.

 

In relation to questions 5 and 6, I am aware this has been supplied to you
by the Avon & Somerset Police & Crime Commissioner’s office in their
response to you on 10^th October. Please let me know if you would like to
receive a copy from the constabulary also.

 

Yours sincerely

 

C Quartey

 

Freedom of Information Officer

Corporate Information Management Department

 

 

Please note:

1.     Requests and responses may be published on Avon and Somerset
Constabulary’s website (within 24 hours), some of which may contain a link
to additional information, which may provide you with further
clarification.

2.     Whilst we may verbally discuss your request with you in order to
seek clarification, all other communication should be made in writing
(including email).

3.     Avon and Somerset Constabulary provides you with the right to
request a re-examination of your case under its review procedure (copy
attached).

 

 

 

 

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#Freedom of Information Requests, Avon and Somerset Constabulary

1 Attachment

Corporate Information Management Department

Force Headquarters, PO Box 37, Valley Road,

Portishead, Bristol, BS20 8QJ

Facsimile 01275 814667

Email foirequests@avonandsomerset.police.uk    

 

Private Our Reference 777/13

Mr David Orr
Your reference  
[FOI #176681 email]
Date 06 November 2013
 

 

Dear Mr Orr

 

I write in connection with your request for information dated 11^th
September concerning Southwest One. Whilst you have submitted your
requests separately, each is concerning the same/similar subject matter
and can therefore be aggregated together for cost purposes under Section
12 of the Act.

 

Your request for information has now been considered and some of the
information asked for is below following your questions.

 

Part 1

 

In this HMIC/NAO report from July
2013:[1]http://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads...

 

the following claims are made:

"5.5 Avon and Somerset Constabulary achieved their forecasted levels of
procurement savings earlier than expected and the partnership anticipates
it will achieve further procurement savings over the contracted levels."

 

Q1a. What level of actual cashable procurement savings from South West One
have been made as at end of March 2013? Please disclose total cashable
savings since contract signing with IBM for South West One (SW1) in 2008
and the annual savings for 2012/13.

 

This information was published with Police authority papers until their
demise in November 2012. Total cashable savings achieved up to the end of
March 2013 were £7.670million, already implemented which will deliver
£12.697million by the end of the Contract term. In year delivered savings
for 2012/3 were £2.162million.

 

Q1b1. What forecast target does 5.5. above refer to and when was that
forecast originally made e.g. £15m of procurement savings forecast made on
contract signing in 2008?

 

Yes. The forecast does indeed refer to the £15m procurement savings
anticipated to be delivered over the 10 year term of the SWO contract.
Given that savings of £12.697m have been signed off at the half way point
ASP is well on track to achieve significantly higher procurement savings
over the 10 year term. The current forecast is for savings of £19.668m to
be achieved by the end of the contract term.

 

Q1b2. When is the contract signing claim of £15m of procurement savings
forecast to be made?

 

See above.

 

Please also disclose the latest copy of the benefits tracking
document/spreadsheet with regard to SW1 forecast cashable procurement
savings.

 

The exemption applicable to this exemption is section 43 – Commercial
Interests. The notification of the extension to your deadline incorrectly
quoted law enforcement. This was an error and I apologise for any
misunderstanding.

Section 43 is a qualified and class based exemption which means that there
is no requirement to identify and evidence the harm that would be caused
by disclosure; however there is a requirement to consider the public
interest.

 

Considerations favouring disclosure

Disclosure would provide a better understanding of how public funds are
spent and the decision making process

 

Considerations favouring non-disclosure

The Benefits Tracking Slips contain detail on savings and contract values,
which is deemed commercially sensitive information, in that current
suppliers may be disadvantaged on future contracts/tenders by other
potential bidders knowing how they have bid and the constabulary may not
achieve the most competitive tenders. Contract values over a certain
threshold are already published on the PCC’s website.

 

Balance test

Whilst there is a public interest in the transparency of the expenditure
of public funds, the ability for the force to achieve the most competitive
tenders is of paramount importance. It is our opinion that for this reason
the balancing test for disclosure is not made out. In accordance with the
Act, this represents a Refusal Notice for this part of your request.

 

Q1c Does the target in 5.5 above include all contract setup/legal,
investment & borrowing(e.g. SAP) and contract management overhead costs
etc to achieve contract true cost break even (break even previously
estimated at £21m-£24m)?

 

No

 

Q2a. Who in the Constabulary (job title) reported the information to the
HMIC/NAO, that was then used by the HMIC in section 5.5 of the above
report?

 

HMIC interviewed numerous people and were supplied with extensive
documentation. It is therefore not possible to answer this question.

 

Q2b. Did the Constabulary seek PCC and/or the Police & Crime Panel
oversight and approval BEFORE the self-assessment reporting of the
information relating to SW1 in 5.5 above to the HMIC? If so, when & please
pass a link to the meeting minutes or disclose relevant document(s).

 

No

 

Part 2

 

The contract with IBM for SW1 was originally between the old Police
Authority and IBM.

 

Q1. Has the contract with IBM for SW1 been novated from the old Police
Authority? If so, is the contract now between IBM and the Office of the
Police and Crime Commissioner or is it now between IBM and the
Constabulary?

 

The contract has been transferred from the former police authority under
the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 Statutory transfer in
favour of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Avon & Somerset.

 

Part 3

 

An adverse audit report on the South West One SAP-based Workforce
Management (due for implementation in 2009) was produced in Nov'2012:

[2]http://www.aspola.org.uk/cache/PDF/Docum...

 

"South West One was unable to create a two way interface, therefore DMS
has never been informed by information from SAP. Instead the Constabulary
has been forced to maintain HR data in NSPIS, the Force’s previous HR
system, to feed into DMS to correctly populate rosters resulting in double
keying of information, duplicating work and doubling the time it takes to
enter or amend personnel records; this also increases the likelihood of
error;

 

Through this process the Constabulary has been advised that a number of
issues it experiences with time recording in SAP, including challenges
with the layout of the time recording module, could be fixed with the
application of SAP Enhancement Pack 4. This has been applied to the
background elements of SAP but has not been applied to the user accessed
elements of the system. SAP Enhancement Pack 6 has now been released, but
the Constabulary has not yet seen the improvements offered by Enhancement
Pack 4."

 

Q1. When will the much overdue and new Workforce Management solution be
implemented and fully integrated with SAP by South West One, to avoid
manual processes and double-keying etc?

 

Approximately 12 months.

 

Q2. Have the new Enhancement Pack 4 or later SAP modules now been
implemented by South West One? If not, then when is that due please?

 

Yes, the Enhancement Pack 4 has been installed.

 

Q3. Were the above outstanding SAP problems reported to HMIC when the
Constabulary self-assessed their submission to HMIC for the July 2013
"Public Sector Partnering" report (link below)?

 

Yes

 

[3]http://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads...

 

Part 4

 

2012/13 Accounts: "37 Contingent Liabilities

We have reviewed the position in respect of contingent liabilities as at
31 March 2013.

We are withholding £515,442 from our payment of Southwest One unitary
charge invoices.

This relates to services no longer provided and performance failures.
These amounts have not yet been contractually agreed with Southwest One."

 

Q1a. Does the approx. £0.5m with-held payment to South West One (SW1)
relate to SAP and a lack of workforce planning (shift rotas etc)? If not,
what does it relate to - Please detail?

 

No, as stated it relates to services no longer provided and service
failures. However, both matters have now been resolved. The moneys have
been withheld by the Constabulary and are no longer in dispute.

 

Q1b. Please detail the service failures involved with description, value,
service impact and all other relevant service detail?

 

Service credits were due under the penalty regime for failures to maintain
police station enquiry office opening hours as published in 2009-10. Since
2011 the enquiry office service has significantly improved.

 

Q1c. Please list "services no longer provided" with service description,
unitary charge value, number of staff, staff employment status and all
other relevant service detail.

 

This relates to the Force Internet Team of five members of staff, seconded
to Southwest One in 2008 and returned to the constabulary by mutual
agreement within six months.

 

Q2. How much in total has been with-held from SW1 since contract signing
with IBM in 2008?

 

As above, plus the final instalment payment for SAP which is £371,750.
This continues to be withheld until the system is fully delivered.

 

Q3. Is any dispute or legal resolution being considered against IBM/SW1?
If so, please disclose all relevant document(s) including minutes, emails,
reports etc.

 

No.

 

Part 5

 

[4]http://ukcampaign4change.com/2013/03/28/...

[5]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-som...

 

Q1a. Have the Constabulary undertaken an impact assessment for the impact
of the Somerset County Council (SCC) dispute with IBM for South West One
(SW1) and the repatriation back in-house of many SCC services and staff
previously in SW1? If so, please disclose all relevant documents, emails
and reports etc.

 

The situation has been kept under constant review throughout the period of
the dispute. There is no relevant documentation.

 

Q2. Please disclose the latest copy of the Risk Log/Register (or similar
assessment report[s]) for the South West One contract with IBM.

 

The risk register is held, maintained and managed by Southwest One,
therefore, No information is held by the Constabulary in relation to this
question.

 

Q3. Now that Somerset County Council have significantly reduced services
with IBM in SW1, then by unitary charge value or similar value measure, is
the Constabulary/OPCC the largest partner in SW1 partnership with IBM?

 

It depends how one defines the partnership.  – Cost of services, size of
the organisation – scope of services delivered, number of services
delivered. The answer varies depending on perspective.

 

Yours sincerely

 

C Quartey

 

Freedom of Information Officer

Corporate Information Management Department

 

 

Please note:

1.     Requests and responses may be published on Avon and Somerset
Constabulary’s website (within 24 hours), some of which may contain a link
to additional information, which may provide you with further
clarification.

2.     Whilst we may verbally discuss your request with you in order to
seek clarification, all other communication should be made in writing.

3.     Avon and Somerset Constabulary provides you with the right to
request a re-examination of your case under its review procedure (copy
attached).

 

 

 

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Dear #Freedom of Information Requests,

Thank you for the responses.

To clarify:

Please answer Q3 on the basis of the value of unitary services in SW1.

For Q2 above, can you please confirm that the Risk Register for risks arising in or by SW1 is not held by the Constabulary themselves, but the contractor (who provides the services at contractual risk) is managing your risk register on your behalf?

If true, this would be against all known risk management practice and if confirmed, would be something I would need to report to the PCC, the HMIC and the NAO.

Yours sincerely,

Dave Orr

#Freedom of Information Requests, Avon and Somerset Constabulary

Dear Mr Orr,

We are currently liaising with the appropriate business area and will provide you with an answer to your queries as soon as possible.

Regards

FOI Officer

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Dear #Freedom of Information Requests,

Can I have an update on when this request will be answered please?

This is a separate topic request regarding risks of an IBM exit following a sale of the global business to SYNNEX.

Yours sincerely,

Dave Orr

#Freedom of Information Requests, Avon and Somerset Constabulary

Dear Mr Orr,

We hope to provide you with a response to your clarification questions by the end of this week.

Regards

FOI Officer

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#Freedom of Information Requests, Avon and Somerset Constabulary

4 Attachments

Corporate Information Management Department

Force Headquarters, PO Box 37, Valley Road,

Portishead, Bristol, BS20 8QJ

Facsimile 01275 814667

Email foirequests@avonandsomerset.police.uk    

 

Private Our Reference 777/13

Mr David Orr Your reference  

[FOI #176681 email] Date 15 November 2013

 

Dear Mr Orr

 

Thank you for your clarification email. In response to your first point,
it is still not clear what information you are seeking. Can you please
explain what you mean by the term 'unitary services'?

 

In relation to your second point, your original question asked the
following:  Q2. Please disclose the latest copy of the Risk Log/Register
(or similar  assessment report[s]) for the South West One contract with
IBM. That risk register is, as explained, properly held by, maintained and
managed by Southwest One. If you are enquiring about how the Constabulary
manages and monitors risks associated with the Southwest One partnership,
then that is a different question. The Constabulary risk register no
longer has any entry relating to Southwest One. The last entry was removed
last year upon the conclusion of the SCC/Southwest One contract
renegotiation, when the risk diminished. Please find this below.

 

 

Moderated Direction
URN Risk Impact Likelihood Risk Mitigating Risk COG of Travel
Value Actions Value Lead(s) (Moderated
Risk)
Reputation Failure
4.0 SW1 and SCC ·        
contract On-going
  renegotiations review of
and public risks and
COG comments mitigating
affecting the actions
force
reputation 5 4 20 ·         15 Julian
Pro-active Kern
contract
management

·        
Commas
(media)
strategy
Policing Plan Objective linked to: 1.4, 1.5, 2.3, 3.1, 3.3

 

 

With regard to your request concerning the South West One joint venture a
response was sent to you on 11^th October 2013. I have attached a copy of
the response for your reference.

 

Yours sincerely

 

C Quartey

 

Freedom of Information Officer

Corporate Information Management Department

 

 

Please note:

1.     Requests and responses may be published on Avon and Somerset
Constabulary’s website (within 24 hours), some of which may contain a link
to additional information, which may provide you with further
clarification.

2.     Whilst we may verbally discuss your request with you in order to
seek clarification, all other communication should be made in writing.

3.     Avon and Somerset Constabulary provides you with the right to
request a re-examination of your case under its review procedure (copy
attached).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

show quoted sections