Edinburgh City Council has signed an additional £10m contract with BT to install a human resources system across the council later this year.

The council expects to save £1.5m annually between 2009 and 2010 and a total of £16m by 2016 when it is rolled out to its 17,000 employees in December.

The new e-HR system will provide an electronic HR self-service for recruitment, training, health and safety and absence management information.

BT will install a Midland Trent 6.5 HR system across the council to link into its Midland Trent payroll system, while the rest of the council runs on Oracle.

It is the latest in a series of projects BT has run for the council since it was awarded the £150m Smart City programme in 2001, says Ovum analyst John O’Brien,

‘The Smart City programme sees BT partner with Edinburgh for its ICT and related systems and processes over a 15-year period,’ he said.

‘This has enabled it to invest in a new online benefits system, new customer service functions, a national entitlement card, a social care modernisation programme, e-finance, mobile parking and free Internet access in libraries.’

Future projects could include new mobile working initiatives for staff, improved customer service and a focus on greater information sharing with other agencies.