AXING AXON LEAVES QUESTIONS UNANSWERED

14-11-2008

While the politicians squabble over Wolverhampton Council’s decision to axe its partnership with IT consultants Axon – at a cost of £7million to taxpayers – vital questions remain unanswered. Stirrer editor Adrian Goldberg reflects on the loose ends of a doomed deal.

Ever since Labour lost power in last May’s local elections, the Axon contract has been in jeopardy.

Forecasts that it would be cancelled have been appearing on our Forum for months and despite official denials have now been fully vindicated.

Attempts by the current Conservative-led administration to blame Labour for the budgetary crisis which has caused the current situation may well suffice for a few credulous Express and Star readers.

Others will wonder why these problems weren’t forseen by the Tories and the Lib Dems when they were in opposition – especially as they committed themselves to Council tax rebates.

No doubt these issues will be fully aired when the Axon situation is called into Scrutiny; there are also likely to be demands for a full Audit – both of which offer rich potential for embarrassment for the leadership.

In any event, there are two key issues which remain unresolved.

- Why are 300 jobs still being cut?

The jobs were due to be lost by the end of 2009 on the basis that Axon’s expertise would make posts redundant in the areas of customer services, finance, human resources, information technology and procurement.

Given that Axon haven’t had the chance to finish the job they started, this presumably means that taxpayers and Council workers themselves will now be getting a reduced quality of service.

- When will the Council upgrade the Council’s primitive IT?

Council sources tell us that the current IT system at the Civic centre is creaking under the workload, and that it is simply unfit for the demands of the 21st century.

Birmingham Council’s Business Transformation programme has been controversial to say the least – witness all the problems with Voyager – but few would quibble that the overhaul of its back office function is overdue. The same applies to Wolverhampton, the difference being that because the upgrade has been put back to some unknown date in the future, staff and customers will have to stuggle on with out of date and inappropriate technology.

One thing is for sure – there may have been some cheap Labour-bashing headlines for the adminstration in axing Axon, but as the weeks go by it’s the Conservatives and their partners who will have to pick up the pieces.

The blame game will only take them so far.

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