“Town hall bosses were today accused of insulting taxpayers with plans to give binmen £400 iPad gadgets to do their rounds,” The Independent reports.
“Bury Council, facing budget cuts of £18 million, is reportedly to buy 22 of the tablet computers to mount on dashboards guiding bin wagons around the town in Greater Manchester,” The Independent reports. “The council, which will not say how much they have spent on the Apple devices, claims it will help save cash by improving collection rates, customer service standards and boost recycling.”
The Independent reports, “Critics say the same job could be done with a pen and paper… Bury Council, which must make £18 million in savings over the next three years, is buying 22 of the iPads, one for each bin wagon, which if bought in shops for around £400, comes to a bill of £8,800.”
“The devices must also be mounted in bin wagon cabs and binmen will also have to be trained to use the gadgets,” The Independent reports. “The scheme is due to be presented to councillors in a report by officers but has reportedly already been rubber-stamped as going ahead… The council hope the scheme will cut the number of missed collections and reduce costly follow-up visits in trucks… The local authority is currently spending £14 million on collection, disposal and landfill charges, and this will rise to £21 million in three years’ time.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The only people slamming the plan either cannot do basic math or jealously want their own iPads. £8,800 is 0.00063 of the total £14 million budget. If the iPads have even the slightest chance of saving at least £8,800 per year by reducing followup trips and/or boosting recycling rates, then they should be deployed posthaste.
