Re: Shameful
No, just business as usual.
You need to watch the first season of Yes Minister where Humphrey explains the actual functions of a minister, civil servant and the department as well as the NHS episode.
Anything which will REDUCE the cost of IT will reduce the departmental budget which simply is not going to happen. It is against nature.
This simply the civil servant ensuring that his sprog can attend the same college in Oxford as he has attended. Nothing personal, just business.