The Scoop

Havering Councillors order themselves 17 iPads

Adam Bienkov | Thursday 9 June, 2011 10:03

Havering Council has been accused of wasting money on “luxury toys” after purchasing 17 brand new iPads for its councillors.

Council officials claimed the £10,000 worth of devices would reduce printing costs “substantially” and also claimed that they were a cheaper alternative to laptops.

However, at almost £600 each, critics have pointed out that many far cheaper alternatives are available.

One councillor in the ruling Conservative group boasted on Facebook that he is “loving his iPad,” that it is “great fun” and told another councillor he would be “getting yours soon.”

Havering Council admit that they are planning to procure even more iPads “where 3G connectivity is required.”

Local resident Lorraine Moss whose Freedom of Information request revealed the purchases told The Scoop:

I was completely shocked to discover that Havering Council are wasting money that residents pay in Council Tax on these luxury gadgets. In my view an Ipad has very limited use, they do not even have USB ports or disk drives. Their attempts to justify this complete waste of money is pathetic. In Havering at the moment, there are plans to close day centres for vulnerable people and cuts to Youth Centres. The money being wasted on these luxury toys should be spent elsewhere.

Havering Council has previously been criticised for claiming some of the highest allowances in London.

Earlier this year auditors announced that they would be investigating 16 cases of fraud at the Council.

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