More than 200 jobs saved as HP shelves DWP offshoring plans

Plans to offshore jobs from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to India have been dropped by HP following a campaign by the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union.

More than 200 IT jobs have been saved after PCS members refused to assist with the transfer of their work from their HP offices in Newcastle, Lytham and Sheffield.

HP, which acts as the provider of DWP's computer systems, said that it "considered a range of options for DWP and has agreed not to move this work offshore".

"We're very pleased that ministers have seen sense and blocked the plan," said Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the PCS.

Serwotka said one of his main concerns had been the safety of sensitive data. "This would have been the first time that the live data held by the government related to so many people would have been sent overseas.

"There are risks to the integrity of data everywhere, but the millions of people served by the DWP have a right to expect that their information - some of which is very sensitive and would be very valuable - will be held in the UK," he said.

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