Council to spend £2m on computers

MILLIONS of pounds of taxpayers money is to be spent on a massive overhaul of a council's IT facilities despite central government warning local authorities need to start tightening their belts.

Harrogate Borough Council Cabinet is expected to rubberstamp the release of around 2m to transform its antiquated computer network next month.

And despite the cost, councillors warn it is necessary to push ahead with the revamp to update IT facilities for the 21st century.

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Acting council leader Richard Cooper, said: "We knew we had to do some serious work on the IT facilities because they are getting quite out of date.

"Over the next few years the computers we are using now are not going to be able to do what we need them to do.

"The current system is not efficient, the way departments are connected together and the way we take payments for things over the internet is not good enough.

"People want it available at a time to suit them, and we need to make this possible.

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"Quite a lot of the things we have done to make efficiency savings have been to IT and we need to push ahead with this.

"If it makes the system more efficient and more responsive to people and cuts costs then this is surely a good thing.

"Some of the systems we have got might be fit for purpose now, but we want them to be fit for what people want in the future."

Last year, computer networks at the council were condemned as "slow and unreliable" following an independent review of IT services.

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The report, compiled by consultants over three months, said there was poor leadership of the council's Information Technology and Development (ITD) department and a lack of an effective IT strategy.

It criticised poor or non-existent access to IT systems, saying this had affected the standard of service provided to taxpayers, and cited "cultural problems both within IT and the council as a whole", adding that training lacked focus.

But the review of services did acknowledge there was an enthusiasm and commitment for improving IT at the council.

Coun Andrew Jones, cabinet member for finance and resources, said the money would come out of a fund which the council had been making annual contributions of 150,000 into for more than a decade, in anticipation of the upgrade.

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He said: "This upgrade is crucial to the future of the council and will help us to offset any financial difficulties in the coming years. Making the council run more efficiently is one of the key ways to protect local services.

"This is absolutely the best way to do that.

"We conducted an IT review during the course of last year and that is going to ensure that the IT development will be structured around the aspirations of the council."

The council has already been looking to upgrade its networks.

Three months ago, it was awarded planning permission to erect wireless telecommunication equipment on top of the Grade-II listed Harlow Observatory Tower, which was built in 1829 on Nursery Lane, Harrogate.

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The scheme is designed to add more council buildings to the network, including some schools, and speed up communications, while saving an estimated 100,000 compared to a wired approach.

The equipment will be visible on the skyline, about 1.25m above the building's parapet.

The decision for the new ICT upgrade, which is expected to last three years, will be made by the council's cabinet next month.

It was announced last week that council tax payers across the Harrogate District will face a zero per cent rise in bills this year following a Harrogate Borough Council meeting.