South Wales Evening Post - 17 January 2007
Your story about Service@Swansea (Post, January 6) was predicated on the council's decision not to exercise its option to proceed with phase two of the eGovernment programme.
Phase two, Service@Swansea, was intended to provide the council with call and contact centres which would improve customer service and access.
The council has decided that budget pressures and priorities make the original approach to this unaffordable.
There will be no "pull out" by Capgemini. In January 2006, 66 staff transferred to Capgemini from the council at the start of a 10-year ICT support contract.
There have been no "spiralling costs" associated with phase two. Over the past year, Capgemini has worked with the council to consider a range of options for phase two, all of which would have cost less than the original quotation.
Your statement that "the first phase . . . is worth £86 million to . . . Capgemini" is both inaccurate and misleading.
The figure of £86 million far overstates the total contract value to Capgemini, which includes both the implementation of phase one of the programme and the pre-existing cost of running the council's ICT service for 10 years.
As for the cost of the scheme "ballooning from £100 million to £170 million", Capgemini's costs have not changed since the contract was agreed.
Nigel Kirby-Green
Vice-president Technology Services, Capgemini UK
