Computer software that council staff in Slough find difficult to use looks set to cost the hard-up authority tens of thousands of pounds more than planned.

Software company Unit4 wants Slough Borough Council to agree to keep using its Agresso programme for another five years following changes to its contract. Council officers say the move will cost £75,000 extra this year and that there’s not enough time to find new software.

But they also say Agresso has a ‘chequered history’ at the council ‘with many complaints around ease of use’.

Slough Borough Council says Agresso is ‘critical’ to its abilities to take and make payments, as well as carry out payroll and HR tasks. The council says without the programme, ‘suppliers and staff would not be paid, and the council would be unable to receive income’.

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But software company Unit4 made changes to how it provides the programme – telling clients such as Slough Borough Council they have until December to move to a new platform and contract.

The changes will cost the council £75,000 more than planned this year. Yet if the council doesn’t move, it will lose access to new software and security updates – leaving it at risk of being unable to carry out ‘essential financial activities’ and of data breaches.

The council says it was told of the changes by Unit4 in November last year – and tried to challenge this along with other councils.

But it says the short notice meant it had no time to search for cheaper options and then roll them out, which it says would have taken up to three years.

However a report to council leaders also suggests council staff have found Agresso difficult to use – meaning that it’s not being used as much as it could be.

The report says: “Staff feel unsupported in developing their experience in using the application and as a council we are not using the product to anywhere near its full functionality/potential.”

Slough Borough Council says it will roll out an ‘improvement programme’ to customise the software and train staff to use it. The £75,000 will pay for this, as well as for the transfer to the new system.

Leading councillors on the cabinet committee were being asked to approve the extra spending, as well as waive the need to tender for a new contract, at a meeting on Monday September 16.

The five-year contract itself is expected to cost around £2million, included in future years’ budgets.