Sunday computer fix 'costs £11,600'

An inquiry was demanded yesterday after it was revealed the taxpayer pays almost £12,000 every time a computer technician is called out to the National Probation Service on a Sunday

The probation service apparently has a deal with computer firm Integris but it is charged £2,661 for any call-outs between 6pm and 10pm on weekdays. The cost per visit on Saturdays is £8,704, rising to £11,600 on Sundays. Even during office hours, each computer terminal check by an expert costs £485.

An independent study of the system, commissioned by the Probation Boards Association (PBA), said maintenance charges were far too high. Author Professor Leslie Willcocks, from Warwick University business school, said: "The proposed recharging would appear arbitrarily exorbitant and bears no relationship to the true cost of the specific service being offered."

The shadow home secretary, Oliver Letwin, said: "These are phenomenal figures, or would be, if we had not become used to heroic waste on the Dome and other public sector projects. If these figures are anything like true, the National Audit Office needs to investigate urgently."

A spokesman for the Home Office said the Willcocks report was "seriously flawed". The procurement process was scrutinised by the Office of Government Commerce, he said.