[Gayle]

Just a thought though - the money that was 'wasted', what was it actually spent on?

Hardware - possibly bought from a local supplier
Software - probably a national one, so we'll gloss over this one
Staff wages - all local people which means that people were paid a wage and it was spent in local shops in the local economy

I'm not trying to justify it, because I don't think there's any doubt that it didn't work, but just trying to play devils advocate and look at how 'wasted' money, isn't actually as 'wasted' as you might think. Some people who live locally earned money, which put bread on their table and clothes on their back.