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UK Taxpayers' Money Getting Wasted On IT Spending

Posted by timothy on from the dog-bites-man-over-and-over-and-over dept.

hypnosec writes "A report combined by MPs has claimed the UK government is spending 'obscene' amounts of taxpayers' money on IT. The Public Administration Select Committee revealed in its report that some government departments have spent £3,500 on a single desktop PC, which can be purchased for as little as £200. Some other examples of the government pouring public money down the drain include buying copier paper for £73 when it can be purchased for £8."

3 of 174 comments (clear)

  1. What's been missed is ... by amw · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ... that this £3,500 doesn't just cover "hardware sitting on a person's desk"; it also includes the software, support, long-term upgrade contracts, etc. This "journalism" sells newspapers (unsurprisingly, the Daily Mail featured it quite prominently) but ignores most of the facts.

    I'm not denying that some money is being wasted, but nowhere near as much as this report implies. See this article for more detail.

  2. The real story by igorthefiend · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Is http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2011/07/28/obscene-whitehall-it-spending-or-sloppy-journalism/

    Basically, they took something out of context and sensationalised it.

  3. Re:Ohh, shiny! by gilleain · · Score: 4, Informative
    Ah. As others have pointed out, the PC Pro article says :

    However, as our report from the 13 May states: “The bottom line might make it look like Cabinet Office workers are all sitting in front of the most ridiculously expensive machines in Britain, but officials played down the figures, saying they covered more than just the hardware. According to a Cabinet Office spokesperson, the “costs cover the core infrastructure and applications – basically anything supplied by a third party’.”

    (Read more: “Obscene” Whitehall IT spending or sloppy journalism? | PC Pro blog http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2011/07/28/obscene-whitehall-it-spending-or-sloppy-journalism/#ixzz1TUbtZD9C)