Council chiefs have pledged to give greater scrutiny to major capital projects amid claims the implementation of a new software system had been disastrous.
Critics of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), which was brought in to help Fife Council save £58.6 million up to 2019, say that anticipated benefits will fall well short of that figure.
It has even been suggested that additional costs have been incurred as services struggle to get to grips with new arrangements.
A working group formed in response to concerns also claimed staff were “scared” to highlight any issues for fear of reprisal, that no staff consultation had been carried out until the council was committed to ERP.
Current estimates suggest the system will now only save around £40.6 million, although the working group say they have yet to see evidence of any savings arising from ERP.
Council leader David Ross insisted ERP was not a “failure”.
“We’ve been up front about the difficulties the council’s encountered implementing its ERP system to handle ordering, invoicing and payments,” he insisted. “It was a huge change programme, which had to be undertaken because the old system was out of date.
“And while some of the savings have been delayed, it’s important the public know that this system will still save the council more than £10 million a year by streamlining internal processes.
“Of course we want to learn any lessons we can to help implement projects smoothly.”
A four-year £26 million deal for the new IT system was signed in 2013.
However, the system was beset with numerous problems, delays andchallenges, which have caused extra costs the working group claim will run into millions of pounds.
Councillor Dave Dempsey said the group’s intention had been to “get in about” the perceived failure of the system, but claimed some council officers had been made to feel intimidated and had been reluctant to criticise ERP for fear of repercussions.
“We had officers in front of us and they were scared they were very uneasy about what they were telling us,” he said.
“I have a great deal of sympathy for the officers at the heart of all this but the fact of the matter is that the system has not worked.”
Lib Dem leader Councillor Tim Brett also described ERP as a “chapter of disasters”, adding that the council had not gone far enough in its response to the problems identified.
However, Labour councillors criticised opponents for trying to apportion blame.
“We’ve been told this isn’t a witchhunt, but it feels like a witchhunt to me,” concluded Councillor Mark Hood.