NEWS RELEASE
Cheshire West and Chester Conservative Group
Issued on Tuesday 27 September 2022
CWaC Labour preside over IT project financial shambles
Conservatives on Cheshire West & Chester Council (CWaC) have reacted with shock to the findings of a new report into the joint CWaC and Cheshire East ‘Best4Business’ IT project which was considered at a meeting of the two councils’ ‘Shared Services Joint Committee’ on Friday 23 September 2022. The project has been beset with problems and the report looked to identify ‘lessons learnt’ for the future. It laid out in stark terms the financial shambles that has been presided over by the leadership of both councils in recent years.
The programme, known as Best4Business, replaces a 15-year-old business system with a new, externally hosted, cloud-based system to provide financial management and accountancy functions as well as HR and payroll. The new system will be utilised by both councils and a number of other related businesses, including schools. Activity to secure a new system began in 2015 with a preferred supplier appointed in 2017, after a formal procurement exercise.
Key findings from the report show that:
- Project forecast savings: £2.1million annually
- Savings to be achieved: £1.7million annually
- Anticipated project cost: £11.8million
- Actual project cost (to date…and counting): £25.1million
- Current liability to Cheshire West and Chester Council, at least £6.5million – likely to be much more.
Commenting, Cllr Neil Sullivan, Conservative Spokesman on Finance, said:
“From start to finish, and it isn’t over yet, this has been a complete financial shambles which will have a massive impact on local taxpayers. The figures set out in the report are just the tip of the iceberg because they only include capital expenditure. The reality when all costs and expenditure are taken into account is that this IT project, in total, had an initial budget of £13.8milion but has ballooned to some £30million if you include revenue from each council. The additional costs mean a liability for both CWaC and Cheshire East, shared 50:50, of some £16million. How on earth has this been allowed to happen and why hasn’t the Cabinet member with responsibility a) apologised for such a grotesque waste of public money and b) considered her position immediately?
“We are constantly told that there's no money for key priorities such as the repair of roads and pavements or our residents have to endure cuts to services like the free green waste collection service. The truth is that the Labour leadership of CWaC have squandered around £8milion of taxpayers’ money. This is totally unacceptable. How many potholes could that fill? How much more could have been spent on vital adult and children’s services where we know there are massive pressures? What a shambolic and complete disgrace this is.”
Commenting, Cllr Margaret Parker, Leader of the CWaC Conservative Group, said:
“Unusually for this Council, a news release was issued on 16 September 2022 which contained no comment from the responsible Cabinet members involved with this project. Instead, only Council officers were quoted. Why is that? The answer is simple – when there’s tough news, the Labour Cabinet aren’t prepared to step up and take the heat and would rather unelected officials take the blame. This is the clearest evidence yet of their failure of leadership around this appalling waste of public money. We will continue to ask questions about this devastating indictment on their management of a project that should have been delivered on time, on budget and been responsible for saving substantial money for local taxpayers. The reality is very different. Where’s the leadership? Who is taking responsibility?”
To access details of the Shared Services Joint Committee report, visit this link: https://cmttpublic.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=797&MId=678
