Walsall Council in £3m upgrade of IT systems
The council leader defended the decision despite the authority facing £20m of cuts and job losses
Walsall Council is planning to spend more than £3.5 million overhauling its IT systems – as it prepares to make £20 million worth of cuts, increase council tax and axe jobs.
Major investment is planned on reviewing computer equipment and upgrading servers, despite dire warnings that the authority is facing a financial crisis.
Council tax is set to go up by nearly three per cent in each of the next three years, while job cuts are also looming.
Bosses are likely to take out a loan to cover the cost.
Some £2.9m will be spent on reviewing IT infrastructure, another £500,000 on call systems and £200,000 on a server upgrade by the end of 2020/21.
Around £5m will be borrowed for ‘ICT schemes’ the report said.
It comes as council chiefs revealed they would need to find £20m worth of savings to ‘balance the books’, while council tax is expected to go up again from April.
Despite the cuts, the authority has pledged to continue investing where possible.
Councillor Bird said: “We are still a paper-based society at Walsall Council.
"We need to be moving into the 21st century and by doing that we will save money.
"The world has moved on but unfortunately Walsall Council hasn’t.
"It is a big investment but something that needs to be done."
