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More Home Office and MoJ jobs could move abroad, union warns

Outsourcing giant Steria scoops two new clients

Jobs at the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office could be next in line to be offshored to India, the PCS union has warned, with both departments joining a £1bn shared services venture with outsourcing giant Steria.

The Shared Services Connected (SSCL) joint venture, in which Steria owns a 75 per cent stake and the Cabinet Office 25 per cent, was set up last year.

Some 200 jobs at the Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and the Environment Agency have already been lost to India as a result of the move, with a total of 500 roles being axed, according to the PCS trade union.

A spokesman from PCS told El Reg the union now expects more jobs to be offshored.

The MoJ announced it would join the project earlier this year after it emerged the department was forced to write off £56.3m after botching its own ERP system earlier this year.

An MoJ mouthpiece said justice minister Chris Grayling and the ministerial team are "committed to keeping jobs in the UK and do not want to see work being moved overseas", but justified the move by claiming it's "crucial move to modernise our ageing back office functions that will save taxpayers more than £100m over the next few years".

The seven-year contract, which may be extended to a decade, will provide HR, payroll and other services to more than 65,000 MoJ staff.

Yesterday Steria posted growth in the UK of 24.7 per cent for its third quarter, due to "particularly strong" public sector revenue, "boosted notably by SSCL’s operations". ®

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