South Wales Evening Post - 9 January 2007
Union bosses have hit out at Swansea Council chiefs after they ditched an IT firm from delivering an all-singing, all-dancing customer service call centre.
Jeff Baker, Unison branch secretary for Swansea, said the decision to pull the plug on Capgemini vindicated council IT staff who walked out in one of Wales's longest public-sector strikes.
Staff were unhappy at proposals to transfer their jobs from Swansea Council to the private IT firm.
However, the news that Capgemini will not be involved with the second phase of the scheme to supply a customer call centre could mean jobs are at risk.
Mr Baker said: "Our opposition to this project has been completely vindicated by this decision. What we have been saying since 2004 is that such a large and complicated scheme would not work.
"We are concerned that there must have been millions of pounds spent on consultations with Capgemini."
The project was designed to replace outdated IT systems and to give people in Swansea a state-of-the-art call centre and a one-stop contact shop in County Hall.
Council leaders have confirmed the call centre work has been put on hold.
Council leader Chris Holley said: "There are significant budget pressures this year and we must cut our cloth according to what we can afford.
"That applies to eGovernment as much as it applies to all the other services we provide."
The deal was pushed through by former chief executive Tim Thorogood and signed off by Bob Carter, another senior manager who has since left the council.
Labour group leader David Phillips says he wants answers.
He said: "I will be asking for both Bob Carter and Tim Thorogood to come back to the council to explain why this has gone wrong so quickly.
"Phase one was supposed to generate £18 million of savings to pay for phase two but they can't even make it break even.
"It was obvious 12 months ago this over-ambitious programme was in trouble. Why has it taken so long to act?
"Just two weeks ago the council was briefing the press claiming everything was on target.
"If that was so, why has it now been cancelled? It's the council taxpayers who are having to fund this incompetence."
Your Views
Council leader Chris Holley leads a coalition of Liberal Democrat, Independent and Conservative councillors who all said their opposed the Service@Swansea project before the last elections. Nearly three years, 88 jobs and £90 million later, they have finally lived up to their manifesto promises. Thanks for nothing!
Sam, formerly Swansea Council
The Lib Dems like calling Jeff Baker "Bonkers" on their website but it looks he has been vindicated. Perhaps the politicians in charge will think twice in future about denigrating staff when it comes to how services should be provided.
Geoff Laidlaw, Killay
I do not have very good experiences of call centre but if the Council is spending all this money on County Hall then it should at least deliver the goods. I do hope that this has not all been pie in the sky promises.
Jimbo, Mumbles
Didnt I read that there was supposed to be an official investigation into how much money had been wasted by Swansea Council on this? Will that now be cancelled as well? Another whitewash.
Francis, Swansea
With the new senior people who signed off the Service@Swansea deal no longer working for the Council, the politicians they have left behind look to be seriously out of their depth. I hope that the Evening Post makes sure that all the details of this fiasco are exposed and doesnt just repeat the usual Council spin.
Peter Larssen, Tycoch
Why did councillor Holley not know about the costs before emabarking on the scheme in the first place? He has placed vital council services at risk by cutting budgets to pay for this pet project and now it doesn't seem to b going anywhere. Perhaps he should go instead.
Malcolm, Swansea
