FOI Request - Personal IT Equipment

Request 101003852428

Please can I request the following information:

1. Across the last five years how much has your local authority spent on personal IT equipment (such as laptops and tablets) for school pupils?

2. Across the last five years how much has your local authority spent on repairing personal IT equipment (such as laptops and tablets) that have been given or used by school pupils?

3. Ahead of the current academic year how much has your local authority spent on new personal IT equipment (such as laptops and tablets) for school pupils?

4. Ahead of the current academic year how much has your local authority spent on repairing personal IT equipment (such as laptops and tablets) that have been given to or used by school pupils?

Response 07-10-2025

1. It should be noted that the Council does not currently have a strategy for the provision of 1:1 devices to pupils.  The approved device to pupil ratios are 1:4 in Secondary schools and 1:6 in Primary schools. This core allocation is provided via a central ICT budget, and the Schools supplement device provision through devolved budgets.

It should also be noted that the Council only holds financial data for the current financial year, and three previous financial years.  Expenditure for financial years 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25 is as follows:

Financial Year     Expenditure (£'000)  
 
2022/23                 641
2023/24                 337
2024/25                 238

2. The Council purchases all devices with warranty via various national IT hardware frameworks. Out of warranty repairs are undertaken by the in-house team using spares wherever possible. The Council does not record the cost of repairs, so this data is not held. Information that is not held falls under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 - Information not held.

3. Spend to date in the current financial year is £178,000.

4. As indicated in question 2 above, the Council does not record the cost of repairs, so this data is not held. Information that is not held falls under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 - Information not held.