§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Prime Minister which Departments are currently concerned with the promotion of information technology; what activities each is responsible for; what were their budgets in 1981–82; and what are their proposed budgets in 1982–83 for information technology.
§ The Prime MinisterThe Department of Industry takes lead responsibility for the promotion of information340W technology outside Government Departments; it provides financial assistance for this and for the development of new IT products and services, and funding for the IT Year committee. The Treasury, through the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency, is responsible for the promotion of IT applications within Government Departments, but each Department is also responsible for keeping its own operations under review in order to identify cost-effective IT applications. Many Departments are also contributing to IT Year activities.
IT is generally not a separately identifiable item of Departmental expenditure. However, the Department of Industry allocated £19 million specifically for the development and application of information technology products in 1981–82 and has allocated a further sum of approximately £25 million for 1982–83. For information on allocations to other Department of Industry schemes within the broader IT field, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given her by the Minister of State, Department of Industry on 8 March 1982.