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Plans to supply free iPads to people who find themselves “digitally excluded” have been axed in order that the cash will be funneled right into a plans to fund new council pay offers.
The mission was initially arrange in the course of the COVID pandemic has handed out greater than 61,000 iPads and Chromebooks to individuals who would in any other case not have entry to the web world. Nonetheless, a brand new report explains that Finance Secretary Shona Robison has mentioned that the plans to ditch the Connecting Scotland digital gadgets program will assist save £10 million.
This transfer comes after ministers provided council employees a brand new deal that will see them obtain an additional £77.5 million and cancel plans for strikes.
No iPad for you
Whereas it is uncertain that the iPads handed out could be the newest M4 iPad Professional, there is no such thing as a doubt that there’s the potential for financial savings right here. However iPads aren’t the one means financial savings shall be made. The BBC Scotland studies additionally notes {that a} additional £2 million shall be gained by altering plans for prolonged faculty meals whereas £26 million shall be diverted from a program that sought to take care of potential flood dangers.
The finance secretary mentioned diverting the funding was “not a call we’ve got taken frivolously,” the BBC studies. Unions are nonetheless contemplating the brand new proposals and it is unclear whether or not the cuts shall be sufficient to keep away from employee strikes.
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