Industry news

On 6 April 2015 the UK’s new pension laws came into effect, meaning that the majority of those over the age of 55 will be able to do as they see fit with the money that they have accumulated through their pensions.

These changes have put private suppliers that have had pension responsibilities outsourced to them in a difficult position, as they have had relatively little time to prepare and some are tied into contracts that aren’t necessarily conducive with these changes.

Coming into place so soon before the General Election, it is thought that this new policy has been pushed through quickly in order to help the Conservative Party secure the ‘grey vote’ on 8th May 2015.

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Ruby McGregor-Smith, chief executive of Mitie, has explained that the zero hour contracts and poor staff retention of carers working for suppliers often occurs because local authorities ‘won’t commit to exact hours’ in the contracts that they sign with private sector suppliers.

Mitie is a strategic outsourcing company that has become particularly active in the UK market for care at home over the past few years. Mitie recently issued a profit warning, suggesting that cuts to the rates paid by local authorities and the NHS have made the work less profitable than expected.

The low prices of government contracts have impacted on the wages that companies like Mitie are able to pay their employees. McGregor-Smith said: ‘We should pay carers above the minimum wage. We always offer a living wage option but it’s up to the local authorities what rate they pay. Where we pay the London living wage, retention is not an issue.’

This news comes shortly after the Trades Union Congress (TUC) published a report suggesting that the employees of private sector companies involved in healthcare outsourcing contracts are worse off than their counterparts employed by the public sector. The report did not acknowledge that the public sector could, in part, have a hand in this poor treatment.

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The Philippines is a popular destination for offshore BPO. However, experts have suggested that recent wage hikes in the BPO sector could make the country a less cost-effective outsourcing option.

Roman Romulo, a district representative from the city of Pasig, said ‘we do not see the P15-increase in the daily minimum wage [for private sector workers in Metro Manila] influencing the decision of BPO players to either step up, or slow down hiring.

‘Fair wage increases will not diminish the country’s global competitiveness. If we look at India and our other competitors in the BPO space, their wages are rising faster than ours.’

In a recent study conducted by real estate consultant Cushman & Wakefield, the Philippines was named as the second most appealing destination for offshore BPO, closely following Vietnam. In terms of actual market size, India remains the world’s largest BPO destination.

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The Leicestershire ICT Partnership, which includes Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council, Melton Borough Council, Blaby District Council and Oadby & Wigston Borough Council, are looking for a new ICT outsourcing supplier.

Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council will serve as the contracting authority for this new five-year agreement. Valued at £5.5m, this contract could increase in value depending on whether other councils join the partnership as predicted.

ICT functions to be provided in the new contract include: end user and infrastructure services; networks; business applications and applications systems management and services.

The closing date for tenders is 7th May and SME suppliers are encouraged to apply.

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Hot on the heels of being named the World’s Most Ethical Company, Indian firm Wipro has been awarded the HP PartnerOne Alliance Partner of the Year award in EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) at the 2015 HP Global Partner Conference in Las Vegas.

Commenting on the award, which recognises a relationship spanning two decades, Wipro’s Senior Vice President Ulrich Meister said: “Achieving this recognition demonstrates Wipro’s leadership position in the domains of Managed IT Services and Systems Integration in the region.

"Being awarded this HP PartnerOne award EMEA is a true reflection of our enterprise-level capabilities. We regard our partnership with HP as a key part of Wipro’s customer proposition in the region.”

The award winners were selected by a panel of HP Channel executives, and acknowledged those who have demonstrated exceptional business performance in partnership with HP.

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Read this next: Wipro Named World’s Most Ethical Company

Dorset Police has entered into a strategic alliance with Devon & Cornwall Police.

The two forces will now decide on what services they can benefit from either by shared services, outsourcing or collaborating internally.

According to a freedom of information (FOI) request submitted there are 27 business areas that will benefit from this partnership, including ICT & Information Management functions and back office administration. This alliance will save money, help improve efficiency and allow some re-investment.

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Read this next: Metropolitan Police Outsources 700 IT Roles to Save $800m

Employees of Action 4 Employment (A4e), a public service provider involved in the UK government’s Welfare to Work programme, are being sentenced for defrauding taxpayers of almost £300,000.

A4e is the second-largest supplier to Welfare for Work, a £5 billion operation that is intended to help tens of thousands of jobless UK citizens find sustainable employment.

Ten of the company’s staff have been found guilty of falsifying files, forging signatures and lying about successfully landing individuals jobs, all in order to hit targets and receive extra bonuses.

Four of the defendants have been convicted for fraud, while a further six pled guilty from the start of the case, 13 weeks ago. The 167 fraudulent claims cost the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) £288,595 between 2008 and 2011.

The Independent has reported that A4e has been ‘dogged by fraud allegations and scandals but still has scores of Government contracts.’

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Denbighshire County Council has agreed a seven year deal with Civica which could produce a potential £200,000 in annual savings.

The historic deal will see 74 employees transferred to Civica, who will run a payment processing centre providing services for other public sector departments in Wales.

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Nashik Municipal Corporation, the governing body of the city of Nashik, in the Indian state of Maharashtra, is to temporarily bring in 1,500 sanitary worker roles for three months during the upcoming Kumbh mela.

Up to 10.5 million people are likely to undertake the mass Hindu pilgrimage to Nashik this year.

Speaking to the Times of India, health officer Sunil Bukane said “The civic body has 1,784 permanent sanitary workers, but we will require more sanitary workers as lakhs of sadhus and other pilgrims are expected to visit the city during the mela. The temporary workers will be outsourced to a private firm through the tender process.”

A tender is expected to be issued next week.

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Read this next: Indian Outsourcing Companies to Lower Premiums

According to a study conducted by real estate consultant Cushman & Wakefield, Vietnam is currently the best outsourcing location on the planet, when costs, risks and operating conditions are all taken into account.

The study, ‘Where in the World? Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) & Shared Service Location Index’, ranks the top 36 countries for offshoring in terms of foreign direct investment into the BPO sector and is conducted every year. Vietnam achieved fifth place in 2014; in 2013, it did not even make the list. Now the Southeast Asian country dominates, followed by the Philippines, Bulgaria and Romania.

The study cites the Vietnamese Government’s ability to provide a stable business environment as a key contributor to the nation’s BPO success. In terms of actual market size, India remains the world’s largest BPO destination.

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Read this next: Jamaica Strives to Become a BPO Contender