A SENIOR councillor has ordered that a fifth of the £125,000 spent by Swindon Council on laptop computers for councillors should be recouped.

The money has already been spent as part of this year's budget but deputy leader of the council, Brian Ford, says savings can still be made.

He has investigated the issue since the Advertiser reported on it earlier this month.

He admitted then that he felt the cost was "over the top" for 43 laptops and printers.

He has since discovered that the cost also includes several other peripheral items, such as software, mouses and mouse pads.

The laptops are top-of-the-range Compaq computers, apparently chosen so they will last longer.

Coun Ford (Con, Wroughton and Chiseldon) said he felt officers could reduce the cost for the whole package to £100,000 and he has asked the head of IT at the council, Mike Lay, to look into it.

But he remained at the defence of the principle behind the purchase and insisted the computers would help make massive savings on postage and printing.

He said: "The council spends an average of £20 a week in posting reports and agendas to each councillor. That equates to more than £60,000 a year for 59 councillors.

"If you add the cost of printing and officer time spent doing that, as opposed to just e-mailing reports, you are looking at a saving of £100,000 a year through these computers.

"I do think too much money was spent on these computers and I'm calling for a saving of £25,000 on peripherals and on training councillors to use them.

"Most of us have a pretty good idea what we're doing with them and those that don't can be trained by in-house staff.

"The other advantage of these computers is that when something is sent, you know it has been received instantly, so there will be a saving in time as well. We will also be looking at the possibility of e-mailing agendas and reports to those organisations, such as newspapers, that normally receive them in the post."