I think this is ridiculous. I understand why they would have to upgrade their systems now and then ( developers release new updates that may add features – or more importantly for this example, improve security).
Now I look at the article and think to myself, why don’t they just scrap the ipads, and just issue laptops and docking stations like they are planning on doing for the lead members.
Costs £200 ish a laptop, they still have the option of including mobile data packages (via a dongle) for councillors that make the case that they actually require them. Repairs etc can be done within the council’s IT dept. I’d also imagine that they wouldn’t have to spend lots of money on getting special apps for the ipads either.