Government to axe Becta

Educational ICT agency shut down as part of George Osborne's savings package

Axing Becta will save the government an estimated £80m this year

The government is to axe the education ICT agency Becta, a move that will save it an estimated £80m this year.

Becta, formerly known as the British Educational and Communications Technology Association, was set up in 1988 to promote the effective use of ICT in education.

The agency had already been facing a budget cut of almost half its £112.5m annual spend over the next two years.

Becta has been promoting the Home Access Scheme, the Labour government's scheme to bridge the "digital divide" by ensuring children from the poorest families have a computer at home.

It has also been promoting the adoption of ICT to enable people studying for diplomas in vocational subjects to move between schools, colleges and work placements.

The agency also advised schools on the most efficient and interoperable ICT solutions available to them.

Dave Baldwin, managing director of ICT specialists Getronics UK, said of the move: “With the education sector facing huge cuts, isn’t it time department heads looked to the cloud to help reduce operational overheads? With on-site IT costing departments time and money, schools and universities can secure huge savings through hosted desktop environments, while providing a more flexible approach to education.”