Council’s £30,000 electronic tablet bill
HARROGATE BOROUGH Council has approved the spend of £30,000 on electronic tablets for councillors.
The decision means 38 of the district’s 54 councillors will receive a Microsoft Surface Pro 4, valued at £750, although some savings could be made, according council documents, by buying in volume.
The authority said this week that the move aims to help it achieve paperless member meetings in its new Knapping Mount headquarters.
The council’s deputy leader Coun Graham Swift believes the tablets will enable savings to be made with a reduction in the amount of paper, alongside the recycling and storage costs raised in reports.
He said: “This is a decision made to move to a paperless office.
“It reduces cost because we have most of our reports on paper which will now disappear.
“We are not buying one for everybody either, as councillors who also service on North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) already have these devices.”
He added: “I do not think IT were as black and white as saying ‘let’s copy NYCC’.
“They saw a good product and councillors like it and because not everyone needed one it meant a dozen did not have to be bought.
“HBC members currently receive their paper reports by post, but this can add up.
“We will be able to make savings on the printing and posting costs because of this.”
IT equipment for councillors is also reportedly due to be replaced.