South Wales Evening Post - 10 November 2006
Have we been hoodwinked yet again?Rene Kinzett, councillor in charge of this allegedly hi-tech, £82 million, save-the-ratepayers money system, promises to hold a review of this very expensive executive toy.
He further promises to lift the lid on the deal (Post, November 2), which blatantly implies there's maybe a bit of double dealing or is it just plain dirty work at the crossroads?
All this from an authority who promised us open local government.
Whatever the reasons, and they need to be good to justify the promised saving under-achievement of £500,000, or, put more succinctly, loss of £500,000. And I bet I am not alone in thinking, with all these projected savings, that we might eventually expect a reduction in council tax! In my dreams.
Surely if we spend £82 million, yes £82 million, on an e-Government IT system, we should be entitled to know what we are getting for our money and what to expect in return, or is this yet another bottomless pit project?
When you buy a car you know exactly what it is going to cost and how it's going to perform. For Councillor Kinzett to say "It had been difficult to get accurate information about the scheme in the past" is rather thought provoking.
What is this council about? But he was confident things would change.
He'd better be right in his assumptions, if not he shouldn't be surprised to find another big shake-up come the next council elections.
Surely, in terms of failure such as this, the authority should be entitled to levy some kind of penalty against the providers for a scandalous short-fall in performance and offset losses, present and future, against on-going costs.
Going by information given by the council on this project, it's the provider who has apparently breached promises.
R O Nicholls, Thistleboon Drive, Mumbles, Swansea
