Lancashire CC has announced a 10-year outsourcing deal with communications giant, BT, worth around £400m over the life of the contract.

The county will see its ICT and back-office functions handed over to the telecoms firm, despite already having a successful in-house operation. Lancashire began benchmarking its ICT services in 1998, under director, Bill Brown, and received a top rating from the Audit Commission. However, following his retirement, the council opted to outsource the service to BT in a deal which is expected to save £100m over 10 years.