Plans to provide £400 iPads for Craven councillors from early next year have been given a mixed response.

Although councilllors were generally in support of being equipped with tablet computers to comply with data protection laws and to reduce paper costs, they urged officers to consider cheaper alternatives.

Coun David Staveley (Cons) accused officers of choosing the most expensive pieces of kit and urged them to look at cheaper Android models.

“I am concerned that you’ve gone straight for the top end machines – this looks like we’re squandering public money,” he said.

Coun Staveley further questioned how it had been that four iPads had already been bought by officers without consultation.

The select committee was told that the four iPads already purchased were being trialled by two councillors and two officers.

Committee chairman, John Roberts (Cons), said although they needed to move forward and comply with regulations, they also needed to take into account how investing in the technology would look to council tax payers. “All this has to be justified and we have to prove to people that we are not wasting money.”