Staff in charge of Bradford Council's £160 million computing contract have been told to tell the public more about how they spend their money.

Members of the authority's corporate improvement committee also said they wanted detailed information on what the contract expects to achieve - and by when.

The Bradford-I contract was signed six months ago with Council chiefs expecting the ten-year deal with computer experts IBM and Serco Solutions to lead to better services for customers.

They also said the Council's own staff, payroll and account management would be made more efficient.

However, a recent survey showed 38 per cent of staff thought the Council's computer systems were worse since their transfer to Serco in September.

Committee chairman, Councillor Malcolm Sykes (Con, Clayton and Fairweath-er Green) accepted that other statistics not made public would show how well the system was bedding in.

He said officers had 'done themselves a disservice" by not publishing them.

Members at last night's meeting also raised concern that costs, including equipment installation and a possible system upgrade, have added a further £750,000 above the contract's initial value.

The officer in charge of the project, Steve Watson, told members there had been five variations to the contract so far but admitted a possible 150 were being considered.

Councillor Andrew Thornton (Lab, Royds) told him: "It seems like extra bits have been tagged on"

But Mr Watson urged members to bear in mind that the deal was designed to be flexible.

"It is impossible to define a contract that says exactly what the Council will need in ten years' time," he said.

"In other local authorities, just one component of Bradford-I would be regarded as a major challenge.

"We should not underestimate the size of this change.

"This is why we brought in IBM, they have experience of this."

But Coun Sykes said such flexibility demanded openness:.

"We will need reassuring as members that costs and funding stack up," he said.

"I would not like to think that things are going on unbeknownst to members when it comes to spending."

Councillor Sykes also stressed the importance of staff to the success of the project.

"We need a training plan," he said. "Bradford-I survives or fails by it."