30 July 2008 - South Wales Evening Post
An IT system which was meant to save taxpayers millions has been abandoned, with the company tasked with delivering it demanding £8 million.
The termination of Swansea Council's payroll system was due to be included in the controversial eGovernment project.The new system was due to be introduced in October 2006 at a cost of £819,000.
However, now the council's cabinet has voted to terminate the contract, and contractor CapGemini is demanding payment for the work it has carried out - at a huge cost to the council.
While this figure has not been made public, the Evening Post can reveal that CapGemini has asked for more than £8 million.
A spokeswoman for the council said legal reasons prevented her from publicly confirming the amount CapGemini has asked for.
However, councillors contacted by the Post have reacted with fury.
One said: "It surprises me that it has reached this level of cost."Why on earth were the charges allowed to rack up?"Why was this work authorised?"
An agenda for tomorrow's council meeting reports that the council has so far paid out over £16 million to CapGemini for the eGovernment project.
It also reveals that the project has fallen well short of targeted savings.
The agenda states: "The target for strategic sourcing savings is largely unachieved, with £130,000 per annum having been saved from council budgets to date, that is a saving of £1.3 million over 10 years.
"While this saving may increase slightly over the coming months, there is a likely shortfall in strategic savings of £16 million over the next 10-year period of the contract."
