Yorkshire and Humber IT network to save £50m of taxpayers’ money

YHPSN is one of the first networks to be delivered through the government’s PSN connectivity framework, and 28 organisations have signed up since its launch. Virgin Media Business has already identified direct cost savings of £30 million over the next five years for these organisations.

The PSN has already driven improvements and cost savings across the region for customers including Leeds City Council, Sheffield City Council, North, West and South Yorkshire Police and NHS Sheffield. It has supported the drive to make services available online and allowed public sector employees to work more flexibly. For example, there is now the potential for local police to share premises with local libraries, or health centres also being shared by the local council for housing and benefit queries, making best use of the real estate and placing services where the citizen wants to use them.

The total potential saving is estimated as being at least £50 million over five years if all public service providers in the region sign up – a total of 50 organisations across health, education, emergency services and local government, serving a population of 5.5 million people.

Since the PSN was launched, Virgin Media Business has introduced a range of additional services to ensure hospitals, schools and local authorities get as much value from the network as possible. These include mobile, voice and internet services, Unified Communications, CCTV, virtualisation and contact centres.

These services, which sit on top of the high-speed fibre-optic network, give public sector organisations across the region transformative upgrades to their IT infrastructure. This means greater security, faster connections and a more reliable service.

Mario Di Mascio, executive sales director at Virgin Media Business, said: “A year after the launch of YHPSN, it’s fantastic to see that the network is adding real value to the public sector through improved connectivity. The network is directly improving lives, while saving taxpayers serious money and time”.

Jon Browne, programme director, YHPSN, commented: “The savings forecast today show the value delivered by YHPSN compared to individual contracts – but the indirect savings and wider benefits it brings are immeasurable. This year we have seen far greater efficiencies and much more collaboration between organisations in the region, particularly between councils and health, meaning better services for Yorkshire and the Humber and a much better deal for taxpayers.”