East Hampshire District Council has made significant savings in both cost and its impact on the environment by switching to digital agendas for councillors.
Councillors have been issued with laptops instead of printed agendas, which would often run to hundreds of pages and be printed 50 times or more.
The first meeting to go completely digital was our Full Council meeting in September. We saved approximately £4,833 on printing costs and cut out the need for printing more than 14,000 sheets of paper for just that one meeting.
Over the past year, EHDC spent £22,710 on printing agendas. So far this year, the figure stands at £13,636, but the move to digital is expected to reduce that dramatically.
Cllr Nick Drew, Portfolio Holder for Legal & Governance and Change & Performance, said: “This is a smart, sustainable step forward. Not only are we saving taxpayers’ money, but we’re also reducing our environmental footprint. It’s a win-win for efficiency and responsibility.
“The savings made will mean the cost of providing the 43 councillors with the technology they need to operate digitally will be recouped in about two years.
“In addition, this ensures every resident has equal democratic representation and every councillor has a secure platform to communicate with officers.”
The initiative is part of EHDC’s broader commitment to modernising council operations and improving sustainability across the district.