The latest Delegated Powers Report reveals that Barnet Council are extending the contract with a company called Ebase who currently provide a standalone system for electronic forms. The contract is being extended for 6 months at a cost of £12,000 to allow time for a new system, JADU, to be implemented as part of the "Customer Services Transformation Programme" and the introduction of a new council website which has had a particularly long gestation.
According to the supplier payments record Ebase were paid £12,000 on 19 May 2011 Interestingly, the Council paid JADU £90,819 in August alone.
Barnet Council seem to have an endless pot of money to spend on IT systems yet front line services are continuing to be cut. I worry that no one is prepared to challenge the spending on IT so it just keeps going up and up and up and up.
Last financial year the council spent £2,970,628.68 on Hardware Purchases and Maintenance and £2,000,813.82 on IT Services. £5 million but is it money well spent?
Making people complete eforms is to put them into a straitjacket and doesn't allow the writer to say what they want to say. Also you rarely get a copy to retain for yourself which is not open and transparent and you don't then have a record of what you wrote. Therefore I try not to use them and email or write to organisations instead.
ReplyDeleteThe council will doubtless run late and pay out yet more money.
If you got your figures from the over £500 lists they will not be accurate due to double entries and omitted ones. Probably more was spent.