Tory led Council outsourcing jobs to india

[ecuworrier]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/jun/02/tory-led-council-outsourcing-jobs...

well this is the same council that has just had to pay for statutory care for disabled people... and give them theri due they are taking the cost cutting seriously...

council outsourcing IT services to India... it will be cheaper... is it the way to go?

does anyone feel slightly uncomfortable about this... 

the article points out that our tax payer's money is going abroad.... and also that won't this set a precedent for private firms dealing with publicly payed functions also outsource abroad .... dunno about you but i ain't too happy with the notion banks and their outsourcing facilities especially withall the stories of stuff having gone wrong!

what does this bode for the future of government commitments to us..

as a matter of interest does the Scottish parliament outsource?

what should councils do?

GOD BLESS!

Peace and Love,

[AndyHB]

the article points out that our tax payer's money is going abroad.... and also that won't this set a precedent for private firms dealing with publicly payed functions also outsource abroad .... dunno about you but i ain't too happy with the notion banks and their outsourcing facilities especially withall the stories of stuff having gone wrong!

  What's new?  The private sector have been doing this for decades; and with our public money as well.  After all, most of us will have been talking to a call centre in India (usually Bangalore) when dealing with gas/electricity/telephone/white electric goods/etc.

[Boudi]

Indeed we have, but it doesn't make it right.  The council should be doing theirmownntaxpayers a favour and reinvesting the money intop their own region

[AndyHB]

Indeed we have, but it doesn't make it right.  The council should be doing theirmownntaxpayers a favour and reinvesting the money intop their own region

Like your 'words in one', Boudi!!  I think the problem with this is that almost all call centres are 'outsourced' in some way or another.  Swansea, for instance, has a high number of call centres, mostly for organisations whose HQs are nowhere near Swansea.  It means that the duplication of overheads and other such costs are cut out, thus potentially saving the tax-payers money.

[Jan]

does anyone feel slightly uncomfortable about this... 

I'd say more than 'slightly'. I know it has been going on for a while already with other call centres for British firms. Getting away from the costs thing there has already been problems link - Indian call centre staff 'selling bank details' and of course 'data negligence' as well.

I also wonder if those who are 'all for it' would be so enthusiastic about it if it was their job on the line.

I agree with Boudi about the reinvesting the money in their own region.

As costs are an issue though, perhaps this might be a better option? link - Prisoners in English jails are working for a range of public services

[ecuworrier]

some really interesting responses!

i agree with the point about the money circulating locally..

i guess i have less experience of talking to good folks of bangalore about my lecky bill... but the few occasions that i had to phone one of those out of hours 24 hours services.. i have been doing so either to obtain info where it has been completely incoherent as to what info i was actually given or i was in complete distress and stopped the call as i was feeling really uncomfortable that i was getting what i needed... suffice to say on this second point that i thankfully had the opportunity to do some face to face on the issue and discovered i was by no means the only person that had had this sort of response ie when one is distressed one wants to feel that the organisation respects this and that not only is the culture of the respondents consistent with the culture of the customer, but that if things all go wrong then one can feel that the culture of the environment of the organisation is going to put things right... chatting to someone in swansea may not be Andy's cup of tea... but for me there is less difference with that than talking to someone from an entirely different culture and system of values who may well have the educational experience to have got the job but that does not

peace of mind is important i feel ... and like Jan points out all those data disasters.....    if it's to do witjh our govt at whatever lefvel then i don't feel it's remotely appropriate to have this information that ought to be data protected floating around the planet....  but then the question about what should be used or done by IT... as far as the govt is concerned is one of those debates we the people should be having!

i think there are fundamental questions about cost of living and standard of living within the uk...  and therefore cost of wages etc...  which is substantially ignored... why?


GOD BLESS!

Peace and Love,


the cheap labour thing with HMPs is interesting i guess it's an extension of sewing mailbags....   i guess also it is furnishing skills and giving opportunities to prisoners for the future  of itself that cannot be a bad thing.... it's interesting that the prison services wanted to keep secret which companies have contracts with them....  those things aside though is that the b est way to ensure standards of performance work integrity etc or customer satisfaction.... with so many organisations providing services that we nneed to get help with... every time we approach corporate britain or elsewhere  we as consumers are sitting ducks i mean if you sign a contract for something or buy something who actually asks who is gonna be providing the back up and support

GOD BLESS!

Peace and Love,
 

[AndyHB]

... chatting to someone in swansea may not be Andy's cup of tea... but for me there is less difference with that than talking to someone from an entirely different culture and system of values who may well have the educational experience to have got the job but that does not

I talk to folk in Swansea quite regularly, ecu - so I have no problem with it, I was simply pointing out that several companies already out-source to parts of the UK where their accent is difficult to understand or where the culture is very different to mine.

Over the years, I have spoken to call-centre staff across the globe, from Scotland and Newcastle to Bangalore.  In both of the former cases, I could barely understand was being said because of the strong accent (Scotland) or because the speaker used a lot of dialectical language (Newcastle).  Conversely, I was able to understand the Indian from Bangalore with minimal difficulty - and in one case, even chatted about where they were in Bangalore (the advantage of having spent time there)

peace of mind is important i feel ... and like Jan points out all those data disasters.....    if it's to do witjh our govt at whatever lefvel then i don't feel it's remotely appropriate to have this information that ought to be data protected floating around the planet.... but then the question about what should be used or done by IT... as far as the govt is concerned is one of those debates we the people should be having!

As you say, the whole issue of IT is something that is of concern, since even conversations within a country can be picked up and misused by anyone who has the know-how.  Ironically, I have sometimes spoken to someone in America or the Far East by phone and had a far better quality line than when talking to a friend 2 miles away from my home.

i think there are fundamental questions about cost of living and standard of living within the uk...  and therefore cost of wages etc...  which is substantially ignored... why?

Can't remember the source, but seem to recall a discussion on Radio 5 recently which pointed out that we, as Britons, are pricing ourselves out of market after market, because we insist of ever-increasing wages.  Perhaps we need to be investigating in more depth the link between wage demands and pay levels across the board and the reduction, ultimately,  in our standard of living.

[AndrewF]

It s they are not allowed to be paid a sensible wage and then taxed on their income so they are not able to use the work to support their families, and get used to handling money sensibly. This also acts as a large disincentive to them to take on the work.
It also means that, if the prison is charging a commercial rate for the job then the contracts are subsidising that prison. This might be a good idea if it meant that we had to pay less tax. Unfortunately I think I am right to say it means no such thing. I believe the prisons get the same per prisoner (of a given category)  regardless of any contracts the prison enters into. So where does the money go? If on the other hand they are charging what it costs them, then they are undercutting the rate any public company could offer by a huge amount, causing loss of jobs on 'the outside'....