Back to Earth

I did not enjoy this Monday morning. Knowing that the holiday is at an end is one thing. Knowing that there were papers to be read for this afternoon's meeting and not really time to read them was bad. Finding out that I couldn't even download the papers because the laptop wouldn't connect to the council system and I couldn't even try to read them on a minute hand held screen because that system wasn't working either was the final straw. And that was all before 0830.
The IT problems have now been resolved but anyone who sent emails to me over the weekend might be well advised to resend them as they may not have made it to my mailbox. Perhaps I should be thankful for small mercies because I still had several hundred to contend with when I could finally access a computer screen.
Monday afternoon did provide some interesting insights into the workings of IT in the authority as the Environment committee grappled with ways to reduce the carbon footprint of the authority while keeping the IT systems working and fit for purpose. The new computer room and servers should help, as should the "Campus Stockton" approach being taken now to school IT but there's still a long way to go. It was more disappointing to hear from one of the council's architects about the costs and other problems associated with ensuring that our new buildings are as energy efficient as possible. To hear that we can't reach the goals we would like to set because of budget caps is realistic but depressing. Now it's up to the committee to decide what we want to recommend as the way forward for the council. Weighing in the balance the savings to made over 30 years against high costs now meaning that something else has to be left out of the programme is another judgement of solomon moment.