This is taken from Ariel, w/c March 6 2006:

ENGINEERS URGE OUTSOURCING RETHINK
Why hand over key training to a company with no broadcast background, Thompson asked
by Sally Hillier and Cathy Loughran

Engineers and colleagues around the organisation are urging Mark Thompson to think again about the planned transfer to Capita of engineering training and technical services, and keep one of the BBC's 'crown jewels' in-house.

Concerns among members of the 25-strong specialist unit centre on the fact that Capita, which was awarded the outsourcing contract on eight HR departments, has no background in providing broadcast engineering training.

The engineering training and technical services team, based chiefly at Wood Norton, has built a reputation as industry leader. Opponents of outsourcing say that special relationships with customers and suppliers may be jeopardised if the transfer goes ahead on July 1.

It is particularly illogical as most training provision will remain in-house, says Kevin Doig, lecturer and Bectu representative at Wood Norton. And instead of contributing to the target of £50m outsourcing savings, the move could cost the BBC money, he claims.

'We will lose the support that industry currently gives us because we are non-commercial and impartial and simply because we are the BBC,' believes Doig, who has enlisted the support of his MP Lynne Jones on the issue.

'A number of companies say they will no longer provide information or services if we are outsourced,' he told Ariel.

BBC people who wrote to Ariel opposing the transfer have asked what would be the benefits of outsourcing. 'If there are none, let Mark Thompson indulge in some cost-benefit analysis and do the unthinkable - change his mind,' says Jenny Kimber, a producer with Radio Wales, echoing the thoughts of several others.

John Meredith, a technology support manager, fears a break up of the unit: 'If we mess this up, there is no one else capable of delivering a trained broadcast engineer. We're playing with the crown jewels,' he said.

Stephen Davies, programme director, BBC outsourcing, said that Capita was a 'credible proposition', having proven it is able to manage complex training exercises. The BBC believed it could secure the right level of training services more cheaply than it could internally and that the right partnership would be able to invest in capital that could be shared among the wider broadcasting community.

The BBC has asked Capita for more detail than was in its original bid, on the training curriculum and repair and provision of capital assets. This has extended negotiations on transfer of the training unit until May.

Mark Thompson says he understands the concerns raised. In a letter to Lynne Jones, he says that the aim is to ensure 'a good fit with an outside organisation which could bring added value and resources to an important area of our broadcasting operation'. He has given an assurance that the BBC is 'proceeding with due care and consideration' and that it has 'no wish to undermine what has been a long and proud training tradition'.