Editors Opinion
South Wales Evening Post - 21 April 2007
Last month I said that Swansea Council's eGovernment scheme, called Service@Swansea, was a total shambles. I was wrong. It's much worse than that.
By nature I am more inclined to believe in cock-ups than conspiracies. So I saw Service@Swansea as a typical result of council bungling; another case of Carry On Up County Hall.
I was shaken out of that complacent view by reading the summary of independent auditors PriceWaterhouseCooper's report into the way the council ended up in its current mess, with only half of the planned new IT system and no sign of any of the projected savings being achieved.
It is a damning report. It makes a number of serious criticisms both of senior officers and councillors involved in the process. In my opinion, it raises serious doubts whether those people exercised due diligence in performing their duties. Remember, we are talking about a contract that has cost the taxpayers of this city £83 million.
One of the most serious findings by PWC is that the concerns of senior council officers about the scheme were not made clear to councillors. Of course, that does not let those councillors off the hook. They had a duty to ask the right questions when they were scrutinising the plans put before them.
Saying that, I do not underestimate how difficult it is for a layman to grasp the complexities in a deal like this. One cabinet member told me frankly this week that he simply had not understood all the details he was reading. If I had been in his place, I am not sure I would have fared any better.
That is why the officers are there to provide impartial advice and guidance.
Tim Thorogood, who was chief executive of the council when the scheme was devised, seemed to be in denial this week, rejecting all of PWC's findings. It does not appear to be a position shared by his successor, Paul Smith, who told this newspaper that the council had "got it wrong" and that the report "clearly outlines a series of serious weaknesses" in the way the scheme was delivered.
No elected or appointed heads have rolled as a result of this affair - yet. The council says there may be an independent investigation. In fact, there must be one.
I trust that investigation will include the roles played by former executives as well as current ones.
