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Council's IT crowd splashes out £92,000
4:03pm Friday 11th April 2008
Sutton Council is spending £92,000 on furnishing councillors' homes with a high-tech arsenal of BlackBerries, laptops and broadband internet connections.
The executive decided that giving remote access to the council network would "empower" members to respond more promptly to constituents' concerns.
But Conservative opposition councillors are declining the offer after calling the lavish computers a "chronic waste of taxpayers' money".
Councillor Terry Faulds, the Tory finance spokesman, said there were cheaper ways to improve communication when all 54 members already have personal email accounts.
His complaints come after Sutton Council "fat cats" received double-figure pay rises while hitting householders with above-inflation tax increases and a £35 charge for garden waste collection.
Coun Faulds said: "New broadband connections would be set up in councillors' homes, with state-of-the-art laptops, plus docking stations, monitors and duplex printers.
"Conservatives will not be joining the Lib Dems in this extravagance. Taxpayer confidence in this council's ability to spend public money is ebbing away fast."
After a trial in January last year, selected councillors apparently found it easier to manage workloads and request support documents.
Councillor Colin Hall, the deputy leader, said Sutton was one of the few London boroughs lacking remote access via home computers.
"We want to ensure councillors are accessible to residents, making it easier and quicker for them to get a response back," he said.
"The Conservatives' leader and deputy leader didn't hesitate to snap up council-provided handheld devices, which are no cheaper than laptops. I shall be contacting them immediately to find out when they will be handing these back."
BlackBerries will initially be offered only to post-holders, saving £19,800. But it will cost £52,000 to update computers every four years and another £10,000 to cover training.
Councillors must also sign a new acceptable use policy precluding their relatives logging on to the computers, use of Sutton email addresses for personal messages, and the publication of party-political literature.
Your Say YourLocal Guardian
Cllr David Pickles, Belmont says...
3:43pm Sat 12 Apr 08
maudley, wallington, surrey says...
7:45pm Sat 12 Apr 08
good on you terry faulds and all others not taking part of this p*sstake!
tonyb, Sutton says...
10:13am Sun 13 Apr 08
Chris Grant, Wallington says...
11:14am Sun 13 Apr 08
Scott Nugent, Sutton says...
1:23pm Sun 13 Apr 08
CouncillorTim Crowley, Sutton says...
9:00pm Sun 13 Apr 08
In fact they did not even abstain when it came to the vote at full council!!!!!
So when we as the responsible Conservative opposition refuse what is in effect a free gift of a laptop or home Pc at the taxpayers expense we are criticised.
This shows exactly the difference between us and the Lib Dems on value for money and the importance we attach to spending peoples hard earned cash.
What will Cllr Hall want next at the taxpayers expense?
Perhaps a holiday in the Maldives due to the stress that council work is putting him under.
It is the politics of the Lunatic Asylum and it has got to stop.
We are the party to bring the gravy train to a halt.
Adrian, Sutton says...
9:12am Mon 14 Apr 08
Would the people who have responded so far please enlighten me as to what IT/communication facilities *currently* exist for the average councillor?
Also, how many councillors will this £92,000 cover? Oh, and where does the figure of £92,000 actually come from? The article states £52,000 plus £10,000 training. This seems more like a case of hysterical bluster than rational discussion.
Jim Trundle, Sutton says...
12:56pm Mon 14 Apr 08
The £52,000 is the additional rolling cost of updating the equipment every four years. An additional £10,000 has been budgeted for training.
This is hardly hysterical bluster. If anything the artcle is surprisingly disciplined; it could have just lumped all these figures together in red-top fashion -say for the next year 8 years - and misleadingly said that the scheme will cost taxpayers nearly a quarter of million.
There are perfectly adequate facilities at the civic centre for councillors, but this is about them being able to request hi-tech at home as well.
John Rawls, Sutton says...
7:06pm Mon 14 Apr 08
Something-Wonderful, Sutton says...
10:21pm Mon 14 Apr 08
Important emails can be answered immediately, others from the facilities provided at the offices, and all for a lot less than 92k...
Bob, Cheam says...
12:09pm Wed 16 Apr 08
You know what, I'm doubting that constituents will be having their emails responded to within 5 minutes of sending them because of this additional technology, presumably the councillors all have PA's to answer these questions. This is much more likely a "working from home" scheme, in other words, an excuse to not have to come into the office and doss around at home, all for £10k+ more per year, nice work (and I use the term loosely) if you can get it, but then it's what we've come to expect from this loony liberal council.
Bob, Cheam says...
12:09pm Wed 16 Apr 08
You know what, I'm doubting that constituents will be having their emails responded to within 5 minutes of sending them because of this additional technology, presumably the councillors all have PA's to answer these questions. This is much more likely a "working from home" scheme, in other words, an excuse to not have to come into the office and doss around at home, all for £10k+ more per year, nice work (and I use the term loosely) if you can get it, but then it's what we've come to expect from this loony liberal council.
Realist 24, bath says...
5:21pm Thu 17 Apr 08
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Martin, Belmont says...
3:01pm Sat 12 Apr 08