BT pursues £20m damages in Scotland

BT will pursue £20m in damages against NHS Scotland after losing its bid for a network contract worth £110m.

BT served a summons on NHS Scotland in December to re-run the procurement for the Scottish Wide Area Network, saying it would otherwise seek £20m in damages.

Last week, an Edinburgh judge, Lord Malcolm, lifted a suspension preventing NHS Scotland from awarding the £110m framework contract while the case was ongoing.

A BT spokesperson said that it would not appeal the court’s decision, but would continue with its damages claim.

“Though BT’s primary aim was always to seek a re-run of the procurement process, the case will now proceed as a damages claim, Lord Malcolm having found damages to be an appropriate remedy for BT to seek for that breach,” said the BT spokesperson.

“We believe that it will now be unclear whether the most economically advantageous tender will be awarded.

“We believe our proposal offered excellent value and minimal risk to Scottish tax payers. Our bid was more than £10m below the price for which maximum points could be awarded under the NSS scoring process.”

The SWAN aims to deliver a single public services network across Scotland and is due to be rolled out in April this year.

A spokesman from NHS Scotland said the organisation is pleased it can continue with the project.

"We are pleased that we are now able to proceed with the contract award and get moving with the implementation of the Scottish Wide Area Network,” he said.

“This is great news for the Scottish taxpayer and anyone who uses public services, whether in schools, councils, hospitals or elsewhere. The SWAN project is a major step forward in Scottish public sector infrastructure which will create savings and deliver an excellent service."

Scotland estimates that the SWAN project will save taxpayers £300,000 a month.

BT was bidding against Cable and Wireless working with Virgin Media Business and a collaboration between Capita and Updata for the six-year contract. While the preferred bidder has yet to be formally announced, the contract is rumoured to have gone to the Capita and Updata collaboration.