Check this scandal published in the Daily Post

Nov 30 2006

EXCLUSIVE by Rob Merrick Political Correspondent, Daily Post

It's never been repaired, but it's costing £2,000 a year - Cllr Joe Anderson at his computer - Picture: COLIN LANE

LIVERPOOL City Council will spend £2.5m servicing computers for its councillors in a 10-year deal condemned as a "scandalous waste" of taxpayers' money by an MP yesterday.

Just 120 PCs and laptops at the town hall are covered by the maintenance agreement struck with controversial joint venture company Liverpool Direct Ltd (LDL).

At an annual charge of around £250,000, it means council taxpayers are footing a staggering bill of more than £2,000 for servicing each computer for 12 months - costing £20,000 per PC for the duration of the 10-year deal.

Last night, Wavertree MP Jane Kennedy attacked the deal, claiming a brand new computer would cost only £600-£700 - one third of the annual service charge.

The Labour MP said: "How could they sign such a bad deal for council taxpayers? This demonstrates a chronic lack of rigour in the council's procedures.

"This is a service charge that has to be paid by the local authority for every computer, regardless of whether it breaks down or not."

And Cllr Joe Anderson, leader of the council's Labour group, added: "It's an absolute disgrace. My computer has never had to be repaired, yet it is costing £2,000 a year."

The revelation of the cost of IT support comes hard-on-the-heels of a damning report by external auditors, which found huge failures in the city council's contracts for crucial services.

KPMG made 43 recommendations to overhaul two deals worth £520m, including the one with LDL, which operates the city council's call centres.

Chief executive Colin Hilton admitted that implementing the changes could save millions of pounds of taxpayers' cash, even though the contracts were signed to cut costs.

The Daily Post understands the computer servicing charges were brought to KPMG's attention, although the deal was not mentioned specifically in its report.

Signed in July, 2001, it cost £230,359 in that financial year - rising to £251,026 in 2004/05, the last year for which a figure is available. For that fee, the city council receives technical support for just 90 councillors, plus their 30 support staff.

It excludes Blackberrys, carried by some leading councillors, and an unspecified number of new computers, which together cost a further £47,923 for servicing in 2004/05.

However, in a fierce defence of the deal, the city council insisted that it had helped "transform" its computer infrastructure.

A spokesman said: "It includes connection to and maintenance of a secure server, unlimited access to broadband for computers used at home and all the technology needed to support the system.

"It would not be in the council's interests to purchase computers without proper technical support in place. The service provided is far more comprehensive than that available at a high street electrical store."

The spokesman added that LDL had invested £60m in improved technology, helping the city council reduce its annual running costs by £100m.

However, he admitted: "A number of recommendations about the contract were made in the KPMG report which we are now in the process of implementing."

Liverpool City Council has refused to publish the full report, insisting it must be kept confidential for commercial reasons.

It has pledged to implement the recommendations by March next year, including ensuring LDL offers the cheapest deal for any new services it wants to take over.