Somerset County Council is preparing to launch legal action against Southwest One, a joint shared services venture, established in 2007 with IBM.

Preparation for legal action comes after the joint venture failed to deliver promised procurement savings. Under the joint venture Somerset County Council saw consecutive yearly account losses.

Derek Pretty, chairman of Southwest One, said in a statement: “"The company is still working on reaching the efficiency levels that are required to fund the savings which have been committed to the joint venture partners through service improvements, procurement savings and operation costs reductions".