The States has admitted it was “well supported” by law officers as well as external lawyers when it went through the process of ending its contract with Agilisys.

But Policy & Resources has declined to answer other Freedom of Information queries about the political briefings it received and staff terms for transferring out of Agilisys Guernsey.

The States terminated its 10-year contract with IT services provider Agilisys this summer and moved to a multi-company model to modernise digital public services. 

P&R said it would publish the legal fees incurred and the legal advice it received “within the coming months”. 

Another FoI request asked for details of when P&R was first advised that terminating the contract “could result in a decline in IT service quality or continuing”, and for the related documents on contingency planning.

The Committee said the former political membership of P&R, which gave the green light to terminate the deal, “was fully apprised of all relevant strategic and operational considerations… including arrangements for the transition period. 

“Similar briefings have been provided to the current Committee.”

But it said it wouldn’t publish any of the confidential briefings, or detail when these were issued to senior politicians. 

States of Guernsey, Frossard House, Agilisys
Agiliysis was halfway through its 10-year contract when the plug was pulled.

In response to another request about the employment terms offered to Agilisys staff to transfer into equivalent public sector roles or private companies, P&R said a “full analysis” was carried out.

But it declined to comment on employment matters relating to salaries, benefits and working conditions

“The States of Guernsey engaged with former Agilisys staff through a combination of group sessions and one-to-one meetings, providing opportunities for both collective dialogue and individual discussions,” P&R said.

“For the majority of staff, only the company shareholder changed, and terms and conditions remained the same. The small number of new joiners to the States of Guernsey were recruited to standard terms and conditions.”

The States relied on exemptions to the freedom of information code exemptions based on the security of the Bailiwick, protecting personal records, data protection over third party information and that disclosure would “harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion”. 

The contract with Agilisys officially came to an end on 31 July, with the States saying it was based on performance related reasons.

Multiple other companies, including C5, JT and Apogee, have signed multi-million pound contracts to deliver public IT services instead.