And another thing...
"By all means have in-house data processing, but councils should look at how they would use it as part of an array of cloud services rather than as a major processing centre for the bulk of their activities."
This raises the matter of distinguishing between data processing and data storage. But to me (as a non - IT person even prior to retirement) the idea of an array of cloud services suggests that this approach would mean a far greater requirement for external connectivity, which of course would come with its own (additional) costs attached, and possibly even speed limitations.
Furthermore, given the understandable delight with which major internet failures are reported in this esteemed organ, I would query the wisdom of any organisation placing reliance on external connectivity and cloud processing or storage for its day to day operations.
I would expect any Council to be soundly castigated if it was forced to report "we were unable to do any work today" because a duff UPS miles away in another city (or even country) had broken the internet.