ON the whole councillors are reasonably happy with the Information Technology back-up they receive.

At a meeting of the Democratic Services Committee, Councillors discussed a re-design of how Powys County Council (PCC) staff will look after their computer problems in the future.

At the moment they have a dedicated member of staff who helps them with their problems.

The IT department is proposing giving councillors a dedicated phone number that will give them access to a team of IT workers to help them.

This is due to a “point of weakness” being identified if the dedicated IT specialist is away.

According to IT lead operational manager, Ellen Sullivan, this system is similar to the back-up services given to staff in the education service and at Powys Teaching Health Board (PTHB).

Cllr David Price (Independent – Llanafanfawr) said: “When I read the report I wondered, what is the problem? If it isn't broken don’t fix it, I’m not wholly convinced by this.

“You have to build up a relationship with an officer who is helping you so that you don’t feel a fool when we’re asking, what have I done? Please help.”

Committee chairman, Cllr Mathew Dorrance (Labour – Brecon St John), said: “The system is one thing and it’s infuriating when it crashes and that happens a lot.”

Clllr Dorrance felt that the quality of “kit” given to councillors in the past had been poor.

Cllr Dorrance said: “I handed the phone I had been given back as I only used it as a paperweight.

“It did not hold a charge, it had no signal so I could not make any calls or access my emails.

“We’re all agile workers but we have these clunky things to carry around with us.

“They’re not the most user friendly when we’re working in different council offices or a community centre somewhere doing a surgery.

“If you go to the lowest spec and lowest cost the outcome is not very good.”

Cllr Dorrance added that changes for councillors should have input from them and more engagement from officers is needed.

Democratic Services Manager, Wyn Richards, said that there was an App that could be put on smartphones for council business.

Cllr Graham Breeze (Independent – Welshpool Llanerchyddol) asked: “Is this a cost saving? Or looking to improve the efficiency of this department?”

IT Lead operational manager, Ellen Sullivan, answered: “We are looking to improve the the service. I’m very keen for feedback if anything goes wrong, but it’s definitely not about costs.”

The committee voted to recommend keeping the status quo.