South Wales Evening Post - 8 December 2006
Swansea Council's controversial £83 million IT contract with Capgemini was signed last December with just five members of Swansea Council's cabinet present.
None of the cabinet's three Independent councillors turned up for it and Swansea Council's 62 other members did not get to vote on the matter.
The eGovernment scheme has been dogged by controversy since it was announced.
Council IT staff walked out because of the plans, in one of the longest-running public sector strikes in Welsh history.
The architect of the scheme, Swansea Council's former chief executive Tim Thorogood, quit his job before contracts were signed.
The acting chief executive Bob Carter signed the contracts, and he has now retired. Last month the Post revealed that the scheme was likely to miss first-year savings targets by more than 70 per cent.
Now, councillors have agreed an external review of the scheme should be carried out. Auditors will report back on the deal in six months.
A second phase, Service @ Swansea, has been postponed amid fears over spiralling costs.
The Evening Post wanted to know whether other elected members supported the scheme.
However, just 15 of the county's 72 councillors responded individually to the four questions we posed about the scheme.
Here are the questions we asked:Do you think resource @ swansea represents value for money for residents in the county? (yes/no/don't know)
Would you have voted in favour of implementing resource @ swansea if you were given the chance? (yes/no/don't know)
Should Swansea Council move forward with the service @ swansea stage of the IT scheme? (yes/no/don't know)
Has the eGovernment programme lived up to expectations? (yes/no/don't know)
