When the OFT investigated sharp practices within the photocopier industry back in 1994, it found an extraordinary variety of malpractice. The previous government put intermediaries in place to manage transactions between IT providers and schools, setting up Becta in 1998 to oversee ICT procurement. However Becta was shut down under the coalition’s policy of austerity leaving schools without a central organisation to guard against ICT procurement malpractice. The BBC’s Panorama programme uncovered a widespread malpractice within schools, where grossly overcharging for ICT products sold by unscrupulous copier suppliers was shown to be common place.