Councillors £32k iPad Upgrade Plan To Get Final Green Light This Week

A final decision on whether the current stock of councillor iPads should be upgraded to newer models will be made this week.

In a report due before the Full Council on Wednesday it has been recommended that proposals to upgrade and replace the current councillor iPads following the local government elections in 2017, are approved.

The proposals have been put forward due to the current ‘iPad model is now at the end of its service life and since October 2016 is not supported by the provider and that some have already started to show signs of performance issues’.

Some Councillors appeared shocked that some of their colleagues had been using their own devices since the introduction in 2012, and others did not take up what appears to be an optional device. The Council Officers did point out that the Authority had a legal duty to provide Councillors with the tools to do the job.

It is estimated the cost of the replacement iPads would be £32,080 for 55 wifi enabled iPads including case, email and security software.

This includes an extra three devices for Committee Services/one spare. The funding will be met from the Corporate and Central Cash Limited Budgets in 2016/17 and 2017/18.

One proposal that was knocked on the head by Councillors was around laptop procurement, so this weeks Full Council report focuses soley on a recommendation about iPads.

If the recommendation is approve the current batch of iPads would securely erased and sold. It is reported that the income generated would offset some of the costs of the new devices.

The proposed replacements have been subject to criticism from the public on social media and Wrexham.com Forums regarding whether or not there is a need to replace all 55 iPads.

One councillor has previously said some may use the issue as a ‘political weapon’, with just months away from council elections, although another did point people may elect ‘whizz kids or dunderheads’.

Last month an extensive and light-hearted meeting took place with members of the Democratic Services Committee, who debated at the length the need and potential options of replacing the iPads.

Although members of the committee voted in favour to proceed with upgrading the current stock of Councillor iPads – as Wednesday’s report is going before the Full Council where members will vote either for or against the recommendation.

The report will be debated by the Full Council on Wednesday 14 December at 4pm. For those who cannot attend the meeting it will be webcast live on the Wrexham Council website.