Becta's schools software scheme reported to EC

Small firm complains about Becta and big business

Schools might get bad deals from suppliers if they implemented Learning Platforms that were not interoperable, said the complaint. The procurement had made it likely that large firms would provide most software for a school, and would make it very difficult for small, specialist suppliers.

Failing to impose standards for interoperability for educational software would also play into the hands of large suppliers, it said, because large firms would use proprietary standards that locked small suppliers out.

Becta might have waved through large suppliers that did not meet its technical criteria, but it stuck to another criteria that stipulated that small suppliers should be excluded from the competition, said Weston.

David Wimpress, chief executive of Netmedia Education, one of the firms awarded with places on the framework, said his software did satisfy the technical criteria singled out by Weston, and that Becta had asked if they were satisfied.

"This was the most rigorous testing regime we've ever experienced. There were at least 180 mandatory elements that where tested.

"I know for certain, because we collaborate with a number of our competitors, that a number on that [framework] list can do sequencing and runtime environments," said Wimpress, using the technical terms for the mandatory criteria Weston said where overlooked.

Gerard Toplass, managing director of Azzurri Education, another firm awarded a place on the framework last week, said Weston had not gone through Becta's tests for bidders, so he couldn't understand how stringent it was.

The final framework list mostly contained small and medium-sized firms, he said, and Weston always had the opportunity to work with other suppliers. Moreover, said Toplass, he had to make a crucial strategic decision to commit his £30m firm to bringing its learning platform software up to scratch with Becta's criteria.

"[Weston] didn't go through the testing. For a company like us, it was beyond belief. We had six programmers working 15 hours a day for six months. It cost us £250,000," said Toplass.

"We all had an equal chance on 28 February last year [when the invitation to tender was published," he added.

A spokesman for RM Plc could not confirm whether its platform software satisfied the criteria in question, but he said: "To my knowledge, we satisfied the criteria, and that's why we passed."

"My experience of Becta is that they're pretty hard-edged on these things," he said.

BECTA was unavailable to comment. The EC was unavailable to comment.®