South Wales Evening Post – 12 September 2008
CRITICS of a controversial multi- million pound IT scheme have been urged to "get off the bandwagon".
The call by Swansea Council leader Chris Holley follows a critical report into the controversial £83 million eGovernment programme, which was projected to deliver around £17 million worth of efficiency savings for the authority, following a deal struck with city- based IT firm CapGemini.
But the savings have never materialised.
The report, led by councillors Rene Kinzett and Mark Child, criticises the spending of £4 million on external advisers, and the use of a small number of people to drive the project forward.
It was presented to councillors on Thursday, when Councillor Holley told his colleagues: "We have all been accused of not being diligent and it has gone on long enough.
"We have done everything possible to make this efficient. I urge members to get off this bandwagon."
Since the deal was struck in 2005, four sections of the programme have been successfully completed.
But the payroll project has since been abandoned, and the council is currently in negotiations with CapGemini to decide how much money it will have to pay out.
The report also highlights how the projected financial benefits will have a marked affect on future council budgets, and raises questions over the leadership of the project and the roles played by council officers — including former chief executive Tim Thorogood, Bob Carter and Michelle Morris. All three have since left the authority.
Councillor Kinzett said: "There was a lack of demarcation between officers who were driving the project and also giving advice.
"If there are three officers making decisions and advising projects, where is the scope for the cabinet to access proper independent advice?"
Conservative councillor Paxton Hood-Williams added:
"Who is responsible? What is the consequence for the people involved? If I had presided over a debacle like this at Corus, where I was involved in the implementation of computer systems, my career would have been over long before it actually was."
The report made a number of recommendations, including making clear definitions of the roles of officers, and breaking down future programmes into smaller projects.
Cabinet member for improvement and efficiency Mary Jones said: "This took 18 months, so it shows the complexity of the programme.
"We can all benefit from hindsight. It is a learning curve, There is no doubt about it.
"But the officers of that time did have distinct roles.
"They have to be independent to make sure the council does not get brought into disrepute.
"To keep criticising the officers is not the way forward. Whether we like officers or not is not the point.
"We are all human, and things change.
"Just because it was not in a document, does not mean we did not know what we were doing."
