Becta to close as part of government spending cuts 1

IT | Gareth Jones | 25 May 2010

Non-departmental public body and registered charity Becta is to close as part of the new government’s first round of spending cuts.

Following chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne and chief secretary to the treasury David Laws’ announcement of the cuts, the Treasury revealed that they would include £80m from the closure of Becta and other Department for Education quangos.

The body, formerly known as the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency, was formed in 1998 to promote the use of IT in education.

In a statement, Graham Badman, chair, and Stephen Crowne, chief executive of Becta, said: “Naturally we are very disappointed at the Government’s decision. Becta is a very effective organisation with an international reputation, delivering valuable services to schools, colleges and children.

“Our procurement arrangements save the schools and colleges many times more than Becta costs to run. Our Home Access programme will give laptops and broadband to over 200,000 of the poorest children.”

They added that they would be talking to government departments and other stakeholders about how schools, colleges and children can continue to benefit from the savings and support that Becta has provided.

It is not clear at present when the organisation will cease to operate.

240 staff

Becta employs 240 staff in Coventry and had an income in the year ended 31 March 2009 of £61.6m, almost all of which was provided by the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

The e-Learning Foundation, which in that year received £1.9m of its £3.6m income from Becta, declined to comment.

The decision follows the recommendation of the right-leaning Centre for Policy Studies in August last year.

In a report on non-governmental bodies in the schools sector, it said: “The development and use of technology in schools should no longer require a central, publicly-funded organisation. IT has become a mainstay of schools.

“Teachers should be trusted to develop their own plans as to how best to use technology in the classroom.”

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Anon
Fundraiser
RNS
3 Jun 2010

Thank goodness the insanity of 'pass the gravy' is being put to a stop at last - "Lets fund the DoE, who'll fund a mid-size-enterprise sized quango or seven (probably), who'll fund sub-committees, who'll fund....".

The failure doesn't lie in Becta (that'll be like resenting the offspring of rape), but in a govt that wanted new ways to expand the public payroll. The benefits touted by Becta - eg procurement, home access programme - would have just as effectively been carried out by the DoE itself.

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