Anger after council hands PwC £330k for refugee database
Cheap alternative available, says campaigner
AROW has erupted after Birmingham City Council handed a £330,000 contract to financial giant PWC to create a Ukraine refugee database.
Hosts involved in the Homes 4 Ukraine scheme are among those questioning the huge spend.
More than 800 Ukrainians are currently housed in the city.
Simone Schehtman, who has helped coordinate the arrival of hundreds of refugees on a voluntary basis, said it was ‘very disappointing’ that the council had prioritised spending so much on a computer system, claiming other local authorities were using an ‘adequate’ national alternative.
She said the council had only slowly recognised and offered support to community organisations and voluntary groups giving direct help to refugees.
“Groups had to bid against each other for small sums, and are still waiting for payments,” she said.
Conservative councillor Alex Yip has asked the city’s audit committee to investigate the contract.
The spend was approved by the Labour leadership in September as part of a £1.42 million release of funds to further support refugee services.
The contract is for 12 weeks of work, at £27,500 a week. The end result will be a content management system that stores and pinpoints the needs and support given to each refugee.
Birmingham City Council’s Cllr John Cotton, cabinet member for social justice, community safety and equalities, defended the move.
He claimed it was a vital piece of work and was approved without tender on the grounds it required ‘expediency’ and was ‘time critical’.
In a question to Cllr Cotton at a full council, Cllr Yip asked why the ‘outrageous’ fee had been approved for a consultant firm, without even going to tender.
He said the database contains no more than 1,000 unique records. He added that the city’s Children’s Trust had commissioned a similar project at a cost of a few thousands pounds.
Cllr Yip said any money available should go to hard working hosts and refugees.
Cllr Yip added: “This is yet another example of this council paying horrendous sums to large consultancy firms instead of directing funds to where it is really needed, supporting host families and those fleeing war. Officers are doing exceptional work but it is the generosity of hard working host families opening their homes and hearts which has made this work.”
Cllr Cotton said the new system ensured all relevant data about families and hosts was kept in one place, accessible to multiple departments.
It had been used to carry out 1,100 safeguarding checks and highlighted any concerns.
Ms Schehtman, who has been a pivotal figure in matching families and supporting fellow hosts, as well as providing a home to a Ukrainian family, said a national government platform called Foundry Portal was being used by other local authorities and feedback was that it was ‘adequate.’
“I don’t doubt the PWC offering has much higher functionality but the amount it costs seems exceptionally high during this cost of living crisis, and when the council faces huge issues now about continued housing for refugees.”
PWC was approached but would not comment.
This is another example of this council paying horrendous sums to consultancy firms instead of directing funds to where it is really needed. Cllr Alex Yip