Wi-Failed : Digital City Boss Paid £82,000 of Our Money

The boss of Swindon Borough Council-funded Digital City was paid £82,000 for 'coaching fees' during his tenure. The news is in today's Swindon Advertiser, a link to come later.

The company was set up to provide Borough-wide Wi-Fi access through an initial £400,000 loan from Swindon Borough Council.

The company failed to meet a single target and is dead in the water.

Swindon Centric Says ; Disgusting, shameful. To paraphrase a previously used line, if you stand on the top of the David Murray John Building (where Digital City were given free offices by Swindon Borough Council), on a clear day you can see a democratic council.

Wi-Failed : Were Things Wrapped Up?

Did Swindon Borough Council know more about the Wi-Failed scheme (and how much danger the project, and the £400,000 of public money) were in? New details have emerged today of the botched attempt to bring free wi-fi to everywhere and everyone in the Borough.

A month before a Scrutiny meeting in March this year, a councillor was briefed on the current state of Digital City.

Swindon Centric Says ; How much, and in what depth, was the state of Digital City's finances and the frozen roll-out plan discussed, and what elements of this did not reach the Scrutiny meeting the following month?

We want our money back, getting someone else to give you £400,000 (that is not the original £400,000) is not 'recovering the money', it's 'attempting to recover your political integrity'.

Wi-Failed ; Council Leader Admits, The Money's Gone

Yes, that's right, click here.

Swindon Centric Says ; Armchair Auditors across town, you know who you are, raise a glass tonight.

PS - Being vigilant, thorough and questioning isn't being politically opportunistic - it's democratically necessary.

Wi-Failed ; Death Held Off For Truth To Come Forth

Pages Councillor Perkins?

The automatic striking off of Swindon's wi-fi company (taken £400,000 of our money and showing us precious little for it) would have allowed answers to questions to be buried for ever.

Mr Richard Symonds has written and objected to the striking off, which will now be postponed until the end of February.

Swindon Centric Says ; Coming soon, those long-overdue Digital City accounts (and where that money went and what it was spent on)... Maybe?

Isn't it great what the written word can, and may yet, achieve?

Wi-Failed : Closest To Accountability We Got (So Far?)

Cast your mind back to March last year, and to a sparse House of Commons chamber, then MP for Swindon South, Anne Snelgrove, raised the questions about the wi-fi scheme for Swindon that's now dead. Her words are as relevant now as they were nearly 18 months ago.

Swindon Centric Says ; Justin Tomlinson and Robert Buckland, MPs for Swindon North and South, what are you waiting for?

Where's the questions, concern and accountability from them?

Wi-Failed ; Death Of The Digital City

The company Swindon Borough Council residents funded to the tune of £400,000, is in the process of being wound-up. Click on the above image for a bigger version of the winding-up order from Companies House.

Swindon Centric Says ; Cue spinning that this was all part of the plan and a 'potential investor' is soon to announce...

No flowers.

Wi-Failed ; Company Founder Declares Bankruptcy

The twists in Swindon's dalliance into publicly-funded wi-fi takes a further twist with today's news that former Digital City (the company charged with rolling out a wi-fi mesh throughout Swindon Borough using public money) Director Rikki Hunt filed for bankruptcy on 8th of March this year.

Swindon Centric Says ; Millions of questions for Councillor Garry Perkins, the Director of Digital City now and at that time. Did he know and when did he know it? And the other 999,998 questions he should answer as well...

Wi-Failed : Another Wi-Fi Announcement About Another Announcement

Another week, another announcement of 'jam soon' from Swindon's pathetic wi-fi dalliance.

Yeah, usual thing 'money will come within days', or 'maybe soon', big shiny investor we won't name, jam tomorrow, JAM TOMORROW!

Swindon Centric Says ; Huge hat-tip to the Swindon Advertiser for showing it's respect for this 'news' by burying it on page 25 of today's edition, exactly where it deserves to be!

Rotten Borough's Wi-Failed Makes Private Eye Again

Swindon Borough Council's dalliance with Digital City and it's promises the morning after have, for a 3rd time, made the 'Rotten Boroughs' column of Private Eye magazine.

This is on top of last week's news that the wi-fi had won an award. Strangely, when the Adver's Adam Kula (a massive tip of the hat to him, as he's hit the ground running in terms of reporting the town's politics) tried to contact the government magazine that gave the award, the person responsible was said to be climbing a mountain in Nepal.

Could that be the same mountain that everyone's favourite former CEO of Digital City is also climbing?

Swindon Centric Says ; Three strikes and you're out, wind up Digital City now and lets crack on with the daylight-filled investigation of how, what, why and when.

Wi-Failed Makes Private Eye Magazine, Again

Satirical magazine Private Eye has covered the Wi-Failed debacle again in it's Rotten Boroughs column in the latest issue.

Regular readers will know that Private Eye also picked up on the scheme in a previous occasion last year.

Swindon Centric Says ; Meanwhile, the link to the Technology Strategy Board's press release about the awarding of a grant to Digital City still returns an error message, appears they're keeping their position, and their money, to themselves?

Wi-Failed ; Bathgate Council Confirm No Contact From Swindon's Wi-Fi Scrutinisers

Chloroform, oh, I'm sure some wish they were sleeping through this mess.

A simple letter to West Lothian Council has revealed that they received no contact from any of the 'Scrutinising Four' as I like to now call them.

This follows the suggestion by many of those involved in Digital City that the reason the business hasn't been doing well (or okay, or fine, or adequate) is because people have been taking about it.

Swindon Centric Says ; A transparent, responsive, professional local authority, welcome to West Lothian, you are now leaving the Borough of Swindon.

This just remembered...

One of those that decided to wrongly name names about the stalling of the Digital City wi-fi was everyone's favourite North Swindon MP, on the Graham Mack BBC Wiltshire Breakfast Show and Swindon Centric, along with others has the download.

The clock for apologising continues to tick...

Wi-Failed : Swindon Quango Awards Money to Swindon-Failed Business To Do More Failing

Like a bad cheap paper-back, the wi-fi struggles on, sweaty, out of breath and on the verge of collapsing the town's dignity.

Swindon-based quango (that's a government body, with public money, but kept at arms length and told to get on with it) Technology Strategy Board awarded the Swindon Signal project (the failing business that's been given nearly half a million pounds of Swindon taxpayer's money, with nothing to show for it) £331,000 in total.

For the full details, click here.

Swindon Centric Says ; Will TSB withdraw their funding after realising the dog's breakfast of a situation Digital City/Signal/Aqovia are in?

This just in...

Currently the link to the TSB press release (from November, so this is old but certainly not out of date news) isn't working. Are they reconsidering the award of the funding?

Wi-Failed : The Digital City is Offline

For a wi-fi company that's meant to be "innovative", the vanishing of your website doesn't inspire confidence in any potential investors.

But that's exactly what's happened with Swindon resident's-funded Digital City (they have £450,000 of our money), who's website vanished into the clear-blue sky yesterday.

Swindon Centric Says ; A valentine's Day business massacre? Everyone'll be wearing red, so it wouldn't show, got to look at the tiny positives.

Wi-Failed : In Every Medium, The Failures Are Recorded

Online, on the airwaves, and now in print the calls for an end to the Digital City era have been made.

Read Des Morgan's view and analysis of this here.

Swindon Centric Says : Save our Swindon, our money, our name and our reputation, wind up Digital City now.

Wi-Failed : SOS - Save Our Swindon

If the council leader can invoke the Swindon coat of arms and motto, so can any of us.

A review of what the latest level of bizzare activity at Digital City means for Swindon has come to the ultimate conclusion.

Read Geoff Reid's post here.

Swindon Centric Says ; If those involved aren't willing to step-down then it requires that residents step-up and highlight the embarrassment, waste and hostility this project has caused Swindon. This town is ours, those who work, live and grow-up here.

This project is causing serious and deep damage to our town, those involved have a decision to make, see it through the eyes of the people of Swindon and decide.

Health and industry, so our motto is... but is this industrial project about as healthy as a dead parrot?

Wi-Failed : The Case of the Accidental Director, AGAIN!!

Like a Saw film sequel, it just gets worse...

Avidity Consulting, the company that owns shares in Digital City (the company we, the residents of Swindon have a stake in) changed it's Director at the end of 2010. Read Geoff Reid's post here, it's explained far better than I could.

Swindon Centric Says ; How can you give up shares in a company you're no longer Director of?

A line has to be drawn in the sand, end this fool's errand. It was a bad business investment, it was just bad. For the sake of the town, it needs to end now.

Wi-Failed : Mack Holds Digital City's Failures Up To The Light

Congratulations to Graham Mack (BBC Wiltshire) for holding Rikki Hunt to account (click on the first link with the title 'Ricki Hunt talks about Swindon's wifi' for the full interview) for the quagmire that is Digital City.

Swindon Centric Says : A hat tip to Graham Mack. With the reinvigorated efforts from the Swindon Advertiser and now the BBC, it would appear those based on the hill have cleaned off the field-glasses and are peering once again down towards the Civic Offices, well done chaps.

Wi-Failed : No Repayments for 3 Months - Council To Repossess Own Lamposts

October, ahh, the month of autumn, golden days with crisp frosts, crunchy leaves and the ancient festival of Halloween.

Do you remember last October?

If not, you should. It was the last month that Digital City (the business that has £450,000 of public money from Swindon Borough Council, as a loan) repaid anything to Swindon Borough Council.

Swindon Centric Says ; But not to worry, we've been assured a private investor is waiting in the wings to buy out/in Digital City and it's conditional on us getting our money back, as our-councillor-on-the-board has said.

Hold on though, wasn't this the same councillor who said the money was being paid back?

Swindon Centric's probably just light-headed from the private investor promise, Lord Ashcroft-backed investor maybe? Sounds super!

Wi-Failed : The Money's Ran Out - Official

That's pretty much it really.

After many weeks of promises of "an announcement soon", the straw that broke the camel's back appears to be a combination of Geoff Reid's words on Talk Swindon and (suspected) decision on the running of a story with-or-without comment by the Swindon Advertiser. They did comment.

Swindon Centric Says ; There's no money left, new investors are sought for what Councillor Perkins (who's coming across more and more like the Walker character from Dad's Army) still insists on calling "innovative" (it's not, it's wireless internet, it's been around since 1999).

Two questions now need to be asked :

What's our money been spent on?

and

Is the fundamental part of the council's checks and balances, the scrutiny process (that decided this investment was sound) unfit for purpose?

plus

How rotten are Swindon Borough Council's processes if this has been allowed to happen?

and one more for luck

Will the Swindon Borough Council councillors who openly criticised Chris Watts, Des Morgan and Councillor Steve Wakefield now apologise as this admission now vindicates their concerns?

The business idea itself was just bad, plain and simple. It was a bad investment idea.

Wi-Fail : Councillor Contradicts Roll-Out Plan By Digital City

A 'where-aren't-we-now' story this week by the Swindon Advertiser's Charley Morgan did well to keep the public's attention on the collapsing council-backed project.

One comment by everyone's favourite 'Your councillor on the wi-fi company's board', Garry Perkins is very telling.

The quote is, "And we hope a large part of the town will be completed by this time next year."

When Rikki Hunt (CEO of Digital City, the company meant to be doing the work) appeared on Graham Mack's Swindon Breakfast Show on BBC Wiltshire at the start of October, this exchange occurred...

Graham Mack : "So it'll be finished this time next year?"

Rikki Hunt : "Yeah".

Swindon Centric Says : Who's right? Who's wrong? Who knows?!!!!

PS - If you're having a Christmas Party this weekend, Swindon Centric wishes you a great time, and hopes you can leave work worries at the door.