Union members have threatened strike action following the
Department of the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs' (Defra)
controversial plan to outsource its IT.
A Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union spokesman said,
"Strike action cannot be ruled out in the future if warnings are
not heeded."
The union warned that plans to privatise the department's IT could
threaten up to 1,000 jobs.
Defra plans to advertise the outsourcing contract later this year,
despite the fact that it is currently looking for an IT director
and has no clear IT strategy.
Geoff Lewtas, PCS senior national officer, said, "Defra is
determined to flog off its skilled and dedicated IT staff to the
private sector and risk decimating its existing service."
A spokesman for Defra said no redundancies are planned at this
stage. "We are in close contact with our IT staff and the unions.
We are committed to taking our staff through any forthcoming
changes."
The government official said the department is creating a new IT
strategy, which it will complete by the end of this month. "No
final decision about the department's long-term IT strategy has yet
been made," he added.
The Commons environment, food and rural affairs select committee
recently said that Defra should postpone outsourcing until it has
an IT strategy and an IT director.
In January, the Office of Government Commerce conducted a strategic
assessment of Defra's outsourcing proposal. It warned ministers
that it would be a very high-risk project and identified a
shortfall in skills and resources.