£30 MILLION COMPUTER SYSTEM DELAYED AGAIN

A council's new computer system has been delayed yet again.

Somerset County Council's new, multi-million pound computer system has been put on hold again, just days before it was due to go live.

The system is part of the secretive Southwest One contract that Lib Dem Somerset County Council entered into with IBM, SCC signed up to the implementation of SAP, a new system to pay wages, buy goods and services, and record financial transactions. This system was initially due to go live on February 1^st this year, but was subsequently delayed until April 1^st, and now half of the system won't be up and running until June, if at all.

Ken Maddock, Leader of the Conservative Group at Somerset County Council, said, "The Lib Dems committed themselves to spending £30million on the SAP system, but it seems as if the delayed launch date of April 1^st was just an April Fool. Now they're telling us that the system won't be fully-operational until June. You cannot run a business like this.''

David Huxtable, Conservative Group Spokesman on Finance, added, "When IBM introduced SAP for the DVLA in Swansea, it was supposed to save them £57million, and, with delays, ended up costing an extra £81million. I hope the same doesn't happen here.''

Harvey Siggs, Conservative Group Spokesman on Resources, concluded, "This system would finally have given us a real and accurate number of how many staff the Lib Dems employ at Somerset County Council. However, because of this delay, the Lib Dems won't be able to provide these figures to us until after the election in June. Do they have something to hide from the electorate?''

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For more information: contact Councillor Ken Maddock, Leader of Somerset County Council's Conservative Group, kmaddock@somerset.gov.uk 01823 356784 / 01458 850906, David Huxtable, Conservative Group Spokesman on Finance, djhuxtable@somerset.gov.uk 01278 723120 or Harvey Siggs, Conservative Group Spokesman on Resources hsiggs@somerset.gov.uk 07850 092544.