§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he hopes to announce his decision on the proposed central headquarters office technology system; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. SainsburyThe aim of the corporate headquarters office technology system project is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Ministry of Defence headquarters by providing secure, integrated office technology facilities to all staff. The first phase, involving the production of a detailed operational requirement (by independent consultants) was successfully completed in May. Approval was therefore given for phase 2 to proceed and four consortia of IT companies have just submitted their technical responses to the requirement. Following evaluation of these responses, we plan to invite bids for two competitive prototype systems, to be installed in two MOD headquarters buildings. Whether we proceed with phase 3 and replicate the winning system throughout MOD headquarters depends on phase 2 demonstrating both that the requirement can be met in the technical sense and that the potential benefits of phase 3 would justify the costs.