18 Oct 2010

Steria Signs Memorandum of Understanding with UK Government

Steria, a leading provider of IT-enabled business services, today announced it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Her Majesty's Government (HMG) in support of the review of expenditure on outsourced service contracts initiated in July by the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude.

Under terms of the agreement, Steria will continue to deliver all of its existing contracts. This announcement follows a process of collaborative discussion on existing contracts initiated by the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude, in July.

John Torrie, Steria UK CEO said, "Following constructive discussions with the Cabinet Office, Steria remains on track to provide essential IT and business services to UK government departments. These services are delivered in close working partnership with our customers, and with the express purpose of reducing operational costs and achieving savings that will ultimately benefit the wider economy. As we have seen with the NHS Shared Business Services (SBS) model, these savings are achievable and can be re-invested in the front-line services which are most valued by citizens."

In June, Steria reported that NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS), a unique joint venture between the Department of Health and Steria, delivered £1.06 million in royalties to the Department of Health. This amount was given back to client NHS Trusts following a DH request. Typically NHS SBS generates a 20% - 30% reduction in operating costs for client Trusts by utilising the BPO, shared services platform. The National Audit Office has verified that NHS SBS has already delivered £50M of savings to client Trusts and are on target to deliver £250m of savings by 2014. This also follows the announcement of a contract with the Cleveland Police, estimated to deliver £50 million in cashable savings over 10 years.

Steria is a long-standing supplier to the UK Government, supplying IT-enabled business services to 21 departments and their associated agencies.