Just as an inquiry is launched into the handling of ILAs, another scheme has run into trouble. "Computers within reach" was set up to provide recycled computers for unemployed people who would not otherwise have access to IT. Intended to run until March, the pilot scheme was closed at the end of last year.

The scheme was to have provided a major step in the government's drive to overcome the exclusion of the poor from the internet and IT opportunities. It seems that the time, work and expense involved in removing all the data from former government machines and then providing new licensed software were severely underestimated. It is not clear if the scheme will be revived.