Sopra Steria sues UK government over £958M Capita outsourcing award

Steven

Sopra Steria sues UK government over £958M Capita outsourcing award

Summary

French outsourcer Sopra Steria has launched legal action against the UK government, claiming the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) accepted Capita’s bid for a Business Process Services (BPS) contract worth up to £958.7m without recognising the bid was “abnormally low.” Sopra Steria — the incumbent for several shared services — says it was excluded from post-award renegotiations with Capita and alleges breaches of procurement rules. The contract forms part of the Synergy programme to move multiple departments to a single SaaS ERP and HR platform.

Key Points

  • Sopra Steria alleges the DWP failed to identify Capita’s bid as “abnormally low” relative to its own tender for the Synergy BPS contract (up to £958.7m over ten years).
  • The claim says the DWP conducted clarification and post-selection renegotiations with Capita, excluding Sopra Steria — which Sopra contends breaches procurement rules.
  • Capita was named preferred bidder; DWP says the process was robust and will ensure continuity of service — Capita declined to comment.
  • The PCS union has criticised the award, claiming Capita’s winning bid was around £700m and warning about Capita’s recent service issues (notably the civil service pensions service).
  • Sopra Steria wants the procurement terminated and/or rerun and is also seeking damages; no court date has been set yet as further commercially sensitive material is being considered.

Content summary

Sopra Steria, which runs the Oracle EBS-based Single Operating Platform (SSCL) for several departments, says evidence in its legal filing shows Capita’s implementation charges were flagged as appearing abnormally low during evaluation. The complaint notes concerns about Capita’s payroll and HR experience and the low proposed staffing and technology investment levels implied by its pricing.

The papers allege the DWP issued a clarification request to Capita after the evaluation end date, and later renegotiated the tender following Capita’s selection as preferred bidder — steps Sopra Steria argues are impermissible under procurement rules. The DWP maintains it ran a robust procurement and is ready to work with the successful bidder to secure a smooth transition.

The Synergy programme has already seen Oracle and IBM awarded a £711m deal for ERP technology and systems integration; Sopra’s claim risks delaying the wider programme and its planned consolidation of HR/payroll services across departments.

Context and relevance

This dispute sits at the intersection of large-scale public-sector IT modernisation, vendor performance risk and procurement law. It matters to suppliers, procurement teams and public-sector IT leads because:

  • A court challenge could force a re-run of a near-£1bn procurement, delaying Synergy and complicating ERP/HR consolidation across multiple departments.
  • The case highlights scrutiny on bids that appear unusually low and the legal risks for contracting authorities that undertake clarifications or renegotiations post-evaluation.
  • Capita’s recent performance headaches (notably in pensions) increase political and union sensitivity around awarding it further high-value public contracts.

Why should I read this?

Short version: big money, messy procurement, and a legal spat that could shove a major government IT programme off course. If you work in public-sector IT, procurement, or track outsourcing and ERP projects, this could mean delays, a potential re-run of the tender and fresh scrutiny on how government judges suspiciously low bids. Worth a skim at least — and a proper read if you care about who runs payroll for 250,000 civil servants.

Source

Source: https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2026/02/27/sopra_steria_sues_ukgov/