Locals gang up on EDS

Kingston council urged to sack beleaguered services giant

The good folk of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames are taking action against one of the world’s largest outsourcing and services companies. Kingston's local paper, the Kingston Informer has joined forces with local MP, Edward Davey, after a catalogue of problems concerning EDS's handling of the borough’s housing benefits system. They are calling for the company to shape up or ship out. The paper has set a deadline of 16 September - the date of the council's next full meeting - to see some action. The paper says that although it believes EDS should be sacked, the council does not have the expertise to run the system on its own. When the company was awarded the contract, the local administration had no second choice contractor in place as backup, if EDS were to go. The paper wants the council to sort out an alternative to EDS by its September deadline, to put pressure on the company to get its act together, or face losing its contract. A spokeswoman for EDS said that the company had no comment to make on the campaign, referring to it as an "old chestnut". Davey told, The Informer: "I fully support this campaign. My constituents need a solution. I am fed up with the way EDS has behaved. It is time that the council put a plan on the table to show it can take over if EDS goes." The Kingston Informer is asking for people to contact it with more EDS-related information. The paper can be contacted through Daniel Abrahams at [e-mail]. All correspondence will be taken to the council meeting on 16 September. ® See also: Y2K bug eats Inland Revenue records Fraud row lands EDS in yet more hot water