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Call centre bill goes up £44m
A DAMNING report has blasted Westminster Council’s overhaul of its call centres, revealing a £44million increase in costs.
The Customer Services Initiative was launched in 2003 following a series of complaints.
The private management firm Vertex was tasked with improving the service introducing a number of schemes and projects.
“Extensive work was taken to ensure its success,” a council spokesman said.
But officials now say they are “sceptical about Vertex’s capability to deliver”.
The report, published on Monday by PA Consulting Group, described industry benchmarks used to predict costs as “bizarre” and “not recognised as meaningful by Westminster”.
The report blamed the £44m increase on:
* Underestimation on both sides of the scale and complexity of the changes involved.
* A failure by Vertex to sustain initial ideas and that they had adopted a ‘fire-fighting’ mentality to problems.
* A lack of consistent corporate leadership on the council’s behalf.
It concluded: “The costs now appear to be £44million higher than originally predicted, which means that there is no break-even point within the contract time period.”
But Councillor Daniel Astaire, Cabinet Member for Customer and Community Services, insisted customers had never had it so good.
He said: “The review has confirmed services have continued to improve and savings of more than £100m will have been made over the life of the contract.
“The council enjoys one of the highest customer satisfaction ratings in the country. It is now more convenient than ever for residents to contact the council and access services.”
Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg, Leader of the Labour Group called for an urgent review.
He said: “The £44 million increase in costs is truly shocking, as is the failure of the CSI to deliver real benefits to Westminster’s most vulnerable residents. Is this £44 million increase a price worth paying to have phone calls answered marginally quicker than before?
“I am surprised the District Auditor has not got round to investigating this huge cost increase and the cost to Council taxpayers.” |
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