Equality body threw away millions of pounds of IT kit

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)  has come under fire for spending money on new computers instead of using existing systems in scathing report on cost management by the Public Accounts Committee. 

 

The EHRC had inherited equipment from its predecessors, the Commission for Racial Equality, the Disability Rights Commission and the Equal Opportunities Commission, but chose to write off those assets. IT assets worth £258,000 were written off, although some £70,000 remains unaccounted for. 

 

The report notes: “The Commission spent £38.8 million on setting itself up and winding down the Legacy Commissions in the period covered by its 2006–08 accounts This includes the cost of the early exit scheme of £11.1 million, and the transition team’s salaries, which cost £8.7 million. 

 

It adds: “A further £9.3 million was spent by the Commission on purchasing new equipment, such as computer terminals, even though it inherited equipment from the Legacy Commissions. The Commission could not explain why it chose not to use the equipment it inherited from the Legacy Commissions.”

 

"The process by which this new body had been established, at a total cost to the taxpayer of nearly £39 million, was patently flawed," said Edward Leigh, the committee's chairman.

 

For its part, an EHRC statement read:  "In their reports, both the National Audit Office and the public accounts committee acknowledge the extreme pressures that the commission was under to open its doors on 1 October 2007. Under these circumstances, the commission made mistakes … We have accepted these criticisms from the PAC and – as the NAO has recognised – we are taking steps to improve our financial and performance reporting, and strengthen our governance arrangements."