Delays in switching on a new £2 million Birmingham City Council website have been partly caused by a fear that, if things go wrong, the local authority will suffer ridicule at the hands of newspapers.
Deputy council leader Paul Tilsley said the new system would not be in place until he could be certain that users would have a “favourable experience from day one”.
Coun Tilsley (Lib Dem, Sheldon) told a scrutiny committee that he feared journalists would be logging on to the revamped website at 9am on the first morning in an attempt to identify any “glitches”.
The new website, which is supposed to make it easier for people to engage online with the council, pay their bills and order services, was supposed to be in operation by the end of March. The launch was put back after officials discovered the software did not recognise pound or euro signs, apostrophes and quotation marks. Coun Tilsley said he was confident the website would be operating by the beginning of August, but the council did not plan to publicise the event.
