Sandwell MBC has approved plans to end its £300m contract with BT and bring support services back in-house, it has emerged.

An email sent to all Sandwell staff by chief executive Jan Britton confirms the vote by the council cabinet means ICT and HR services are to be brought back in-house.

Mr Britton said the council will shortly serve BT with a notice to terminate the contract in 30 days' time.  Unless problems raised were dealt with within this timescale, the contract would come to an end, she added.

All employees working for BT under the Transform Sandwell scheme – a 15-year deal to deliver a range of corporate functions including customer services, finance and procurement – would be brought back in-house by ending TUPE arrangements should the contract end, Ms Britton said.

‘If it becomes necessary, I am confident we will be able to bring services back efficiently and run them in the most effective way in future,' Ms Britton added.

Mo Khalik, regional organiser for the GMB trade union approved the decision to return services and staff back to the council, saying ‘outsourcing causes more problems than it ever solves'.

‘With money tight councils should be able to provide services in a more cost effective manger by cutting out the ‘middle-men' who make a fat living doing what councils should be able to do better themselves,' Mr Khalik said.