South Wales Evening Post - Editorial - 30 July 2008
Swansea Council says it is unable to confirm or discuss the £8 million of our money that CapGemini is demanding over the termination of the authority's payroll IT system.
We say legal privilege and commercial confidentiality be damned - someone has some serious explaining to do to the taxpayers of this city.
The controversial eGovernment scheme was conceived under one administration and introduced under another. But now someone needs to take some responsibility and explain why the scheme has cost so much, saved so little and - all in all - failed to deliver.
It would also be extremely helpful if CapGemini would explain, in public, and in minute detail, exactly how it calculates that it is owed £8 million in the first place.
Large-scale IT projects are renowned for their shortcomings. Several huge public sector schemes have been criticised for coming in over budget, over deadline and failing to deliver their goals.
The private sector, too, has had its fair share, but those accountable have been made to pay the price.
Swansea's administration should count itself lucky that the eGovernment scheme did not unravel until after the recent elections.
