Cabinet Office warns public sector on offshoring plans

The Cabinet Office has warned government departments to be aware of security, IT standards and data protection risks when appraising their offshoring options in a newly published Government ICT Offshoring Guide (PDF).

The government has traditionally been opposed to offshoring and has pushed for outsourcing to develop locally, but the recession and the Comprehensive Spending Review have driven some departments to rethink their outsourcing strategies to cut operating costs.

For example, Birmingham City Council recently revealed plans to offshore up to 100 back-office IT jobs by the end of this year.

A spokesman for the Cabinet Office told V3.co.uk that the guide was published as offshoring is being encountered with ever greater frequency in the public sector.

"The Cabinet Office has found more companies entering tenders with the public sector offering offshoring as part of the service. We published the guide to make sure the government asks the right questions before signing agreements," he said.

"[The guide] is not designed to promote or discourage offshoring either way. It's not a policy document."

The guide advises procurers in government departments to take care when signing offshoring agreements that involve data transfers, and to ensure that the requirements of all relevant data protection legislation are fulfilled.

Additionally, the public sector has been told not to offshore any data or services that relate to national security.

UK public sector standards must be applied and tested in all offshore environments, the guide added, advising departments to be careful when choosing offshore locations.

"There may be some countries or locations where the risk of offshoring any government service is unacceptable," it stated.