Councillors across the north-east could soon be allowed to use their work phones for personal calls too.
Elected officials are bound by a strict code of conduct which makes it clear that the use of council computers and smart phones is strictly controlled.
Any personal use must be authorised by the local authority, and must only be “incidental”.
Aberdeenshire Council’s legal team has always interpreted that code to mean councillors should not rely on taxpayer proper and should have their own devices.
But now bosses are proposing a relaxation of the rules, as using multiple devices is “outdated”.
In a report to the policy and resources committee, the authority’s information security officer Andrew Lawson says the code had been drawn up before mobile and smart technology.
He tells them: “There is good reason why public resources should not be exploited but in a technological age when the use of a device for more than one aspect of an individual’s business or personal life is the norm and could cause no additional expense to the public purse, it should be possible for the councillors’ code of conduct to move with the times.”
The relaxation of the policy should not cost the taxpayer any extra, as councillors already have been issued with smart phones.
Ritchie Johnson, the council’s chief of business services, has recommended to members of the policy and resources committee that they approve a revised code of practice.
But despite the proposed change in the guidelines, the use of councillors’ smart phones will still be strictly controlled.
Gaming apps are banned on the devices and a whole host of websites – including pornography, gambling and “tasteless content” – are blocked.
Councillors have also been warned that in light of “risks to information security, public reputation and overload of limited resources”, the use of local authority computers and smartphones is strictly monitored.
Councillors will consider the proposals when they meet on Thursday.