AN INVESTIGATION into Liverpool Council’s contract with BT will not be concluded until October.
Last August, the council hired experts to probe its Liverpool Direct Limited joint venture, which now costs £78m a year, after fears the council was not getting value for money.
A damning external report into the joint venture had stated the basis of billing for the LDL deal was “opaque” and “lacked transparency”.
A council report states that the initial investigation is formally completed, but yet more work is needed.
Experts will now look at how the governance arrangements can be changed, drive value for money, and improve planning so “the benefits envisaged by the partnership are achieved and further services efficiencies are secured”.
It is understood that, under current arrangements, there is a recognition within the council that the deal may not have been working as well as possible for the authority, and pressure is being put on BT to improve the contract.
The latest news follows the revelation that, on average, more than 2,500 calls about adults and more than 1,000 about children a month are failing to get through to Careline, run by LDL, or are hanging up after long waits.
LDL was set up as a joint venture with BT in 2001 to improve the council’s customer services department.
