Veil of Secrecy by LibDems (17.09.07)

Ken Maddock, Leader of the Conservative Group, has expressed his concern with the handling of a major contract by the Liberal Democrat administration.

The contract is for the outsourcing of a large number of corporate functions within the Council through the creation of a joint venture company with Taunton Deane Borough Council, under the Improving Services in Somerset (ISiS) Programme.

Ken told the press this week: “A great deal of hard work and officer time since early 2005 has been put into developing this Programme. Since the selection of IBM as the Preferred Bidder in March 2007, negotiations have been underway between the parties.

However, recent developments are causing me a great deal of concern. Unfortunately, the manner in which the LibDems have excluded Members from detailed information means that most of us are left in the dark on very important issues. It is just not acceptable that the Lib Dems use the cloak of confidentiality to be selective in what we are told.

This is a major contract worth in the region of £400 million over a 10 year period and any hitches may have severe implications for the taxpayer.

Whilst the Conservative Group supports the principle of ISiS, we are becoming increasingly worried about what deals might be done behind closed doors. How can we protect the interests of local people if they don’t tell us what the deal actually is?

Elected Members should be told what is going on."