SERVICE CUTS FEARED TO COVER COSTS OF E-GOVERNMENT PLANS Be the first reader to comment on this story
CHRIS DAVIES10:00 - 22 November 2005
Concerned council staff are worried schools and social services could pay the price to deliver Swansea's e-Government programme, according to union leaders.They say there is a growing fear among staff that Swansea's education and social services budgets could be cut should something go wrong with the controversial mailto:Service@Swanseascheme. It follows claims in yesterday's Post that senior council managers and councillors are concerned about the affordability of the scheme aimed at making the council more efficient and about plans to borrow millions of pounds to deliver it.Jeff Baker, of union Unison, said IT staff had originally raised the issue but now others had voiced concerns to him.He said: "We welcome at long last that the scheme is being questioned. We always predicted it would be expensive."We get reports from front-line staff and senior managers but they are all very careful about putting their heads above the parapet."Social services and education are concerned. The thinking is that they will bear the brunt of this if it goes pear-shaped."A council spokesman said: "We are not diverting funds from services to pay for e-Government. In fact, we can make efficiency savings which can be reinvested into front-line services."The council has assured employees there will be no compulsory redundancies as a result of mailto:Service@Swansea.Mr Baker said staff were worried that pressure to deliver mailto:Service@Swanseawas putting a strain on council finances. He said: "If they don't watch it, it will be close to meltdown."Mary Jones, cabinet member for top performance and e-Government, said: "The e-Government programme will generate millions of pounds in savings and pay for itself."We don't have a choice. Even without e-Government we would still need to replace our ICT systems and improve customer access."