The Liverpool Direct partnershop is to be investigated by a select committee

BT joint venture with Liverpool faces investigation over £15m in service charges

Investigation into the set-up of the £70m-a-year agreement between the supplier and Liverpool City Council

Written by Neon Kelly

Computing, 02 Jul 2008

A 10-year joint venture between BT and Liverpool Council is to be investigated by a committee of councillors.

The council’s corporate services select committee will convene in September to examine the workings of the Liverpool Direct Ltd (LDL) joint venture partnership. Liverpool Direct Ltd ownership is split 80/20 between BT and the council and provides back-office and customer-facing IT services to the city.

Concerns over the £70m per year deal were voiced last week by the Improvement and Development Agency for Local Government. A report from the advisory board said that a "lack of transparency" in billing arrangements is making it difficult to ascertain whether the council is getting good value for money in the partnership. Questions were raised over £15m in service charges.

LDL chief executive David McElhinney and other senior figures are expected to be called before the hearing, according to the Liverpool Echo.