UK govt dept sent a document 'in error.' Now it's being used in a £370M contract lawsuit
The UK's Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) sent a confidential comparison document 'in error' to its outsourcing provider SSCL, a subsidiary of Sopra Steria, which is now central to a £370 million contract lawsuit. Sopra Steria is challenging the award of the contract to rival Capita, alleging procurement rule violations and improper renegotiations. The DWP claims the document was shared by mistake and that Sopra Steria breached an ethical wall agreement by accessing and using it. The case centers on whether the procurement process was fair and compliant with public contracting rules.
- ▪The DWP inadvertently shared a confidential bid comparison document with SSCL, a Sopra Steria subsidiary, during a procurement process for a £370 million shared services contract.
- ▪Sopra Steria is suing the DWP after it lost the contract to Capita, alleging the winning bid was abnormally low and that the DWP improperly renegotiated terms post-selection.
- ▪The DWP claims Sopra Steria violated an Ethical Wall Agreement by accessing and using the mistakenly shared document, justifying its exclusion from the procurement.
- ▪The disputed document was intended for internal transition planning, not bid evaluation, and was shared with only a few DWP staff and evaluators, according to the DWP.
- ▪Sopra Steria seeks to have the procurement process annulled or rerun and is claiming damages, while the DWP denies any breach of procurement rules.
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Public Sector 3 UK govt dept sent a document 'in error.' Now it's being used in a £370M contract lawsuit 3 Comparison between 2 vendors was never meant to be seen ... or made Lindsay Clark Tue 28 Apr 2026 // 08:30 UTC The UK's pensions and welfare ministry has slammed its outsourcing provider, SSCL, for sharing a document the department says it "inadvertently provided", a document that later surfaced in a legal dispute over a £370 million contract. As The Register reported earlier this year, Sopra Steria is suing the Department for Work and Pensions' (DWP) after it rejected its bid for a new shared service contract, and accepted rival Capita's bid instead. Via its SSCL subsidiary, which provides back office functions to the department, Sopra Steria also supports the current Oracle-based HR and finance system on which the DWP relies. Both Sopra Steria and the department agree that the document – referred to in the legal filings as "Comparison Document" – was sent to one employee and one contractor from that SSCL subsidiary in August 2025. Capita has already told The Register it took part in a robust procurement process and stands ready to work with the DWP to ensure a smooth transition of service and value for money. It is set to take over running the service after IBM and Oracle won the £711 million ($950 million) contract to build the new Oracle Fusion-based system, awarded in 2024 as part of the so called Synergy project which would provide a HR and finance system to three other central government departments too. <a href="https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2afB_p1AqCRJ5Wcw4jKyb8gAAApg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0" target="_blank"> <img src="https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ad?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2afB_p1AqCRJ5Wcw4jKyb8gAAApg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0" alt=""> </a> The DWP awarded Capita the Business Process Service (BPS) contract earlier this year for £370 million over ten years. The initial earmarked maximum figure was £958.7 million. The lawsuit Sopra Steria began a legal challenge of the procurement in January this year, alleging Capita's price was abnormally low and the process was contrary to UK public procurement rules. Capita and the DWP both deny the claim. Part of the case focuses on the "Comparison Document" that the DWP shared with SSCL — the Sopra Steria subsidiary — in August last year. In its defense filed with the court last month, the DWP confirmed it had sent a link to the document to one SSCL employee and one SSCL contractor. It said the individuals had been "inadvertently provided with access to the Comparison Document, which on its face was confidential and had clearly been shared in error." Ethical wall Agreement The DWP said it had earlier signed an "Ethical Wall Agreement" (EWA) with Sopra Steria to ensure it and SSCL took "all appropriate steps" to avoid financial or personal conflicts of interest during the BPS procurement in which Sopra Steria was taking part. The department goes on to claim in its defense documents that: "In breach of the EWA, when SSCL staff members were inadvertently provided with access to the Comparison Document, which on its face was confidential…
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