BERRY EXPENSIVE; EXCLUSIVE Broke councils fork out pounds 1m to give their staff hi-tech gadgets.

Byline: By Stephen Stewart 

CASH-STRAPPED councils have splashed out almost pounds 1million on hi-tech mobile phones for workers.

One authority spent more than pounds 500,000 on BlackBerry gadgets.

Last night, the Taxpayers' Alliance slammed it was a waste of public money.

Chief executive Matthew Elliott said: "This is totally ridiculous. It is absurd to suggest thousands of council employees need such hi-tech mobiles.

"Instead of frittering away taxpayers' cash on these glitzy gadgets, these council employees should have spent more time serving the public and carrying out the jobs they are paid to do."

Glasgow City Council were the top spenders on the BlackBerrys - powerful mini computers that can use the internet, send emails and run other programs.

They have dished out 1177 of the phones running up a bill of pounds 540,000.

Aberdeen City Council have 2348 hi-tech mobiles - bought between 2005-2008 - being used by staff and councillors, racking up a pounds 338,000 bill last year.

And all 70 North Lanarkshire councillors are to get a Blackberry, at a cost of pounds 37,800.

A North Lanarkshire Council spokeswoman said: "It is important to stay up to date with technological improvements."

Stirling Council spent pounds 29,386 on the gadgets last year, while Dundee City Council have dished out 46 of the phones, costing around pounds 13,000.

The spending was revealed after a series of Freedom Of Information Act requests.

Councils in Glasgow and Aberdeen are in the middle of swingeing budget cuts.

Around 400 jobs are at threat in Glasgow, where cuts of pounds 23million are being made.

In Aberdeen, schools and leisure facilities are being closed and services slashed to plug a pounds 25million black hole.

A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: "We issue BlackBerrys to staff where there is a clear saving in doing so or where a staff member needs to access email outside the office or outside office hours.

"For example, 300 BlackBerrys have been issued to home carers who no longer need to travel to their offices to access files.

"The savings are in terms of travelling, petrol and office space."

An Aberdeen City Council spokeswoman said: "We provide statutory services 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and mobile phones and BlackBerrys are essential to the council staff who provide these services."

Tory MSP David McLetchie, a member of the local government and communities committee, said: "The issue is whether the number of BlackBerrys and other gadgets being given to council staff is justifiable.

"If they are just being handed out willy-nilly as playthings then that is clearly an extravagance we could do without."

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UPWARDLY MOBILE: BlackBerry