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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."

1 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.