IBM has attempted to prevent Somerset county council from releasing key details of a £400 million outsourcing contract, according to ComputerWeekly.com.

The council is required to disclose accounts information for the last financial year under the Audit Commission Act, including contracts, invoicing and receipts.

According to ComputerWeekly, the contract in question was the first of its type in that it brought together two public authorities and a police force into a "strategic partnership" organisation called South West One, of which IBM is the major shareholder.

It says journalists from ITV West have requested to see the contract as part of their ongoing investigation into South West One, but the council has so far refused after receiving a request from IBM to keep it confidential.

The website states that in the past there have been questions raised about the level of secrecy surrounding the agreement, with Ian Liddell-Grainger MP telling parliament in March 2008: "SouthWest One is an outfit born in secrecy and reliant on secrecy."

Outsourcing of council IT services was in the news yesterday, when Westminster county council revealed plans to outsource the entirety of its computer network to become "infrastructure-free" by 2015.

More than half of small businesses (53%) believe that the most important benefit of outsourcing is guaranteed response times for IT support, London based Connect conducted the research in 2007.