§ Mr. AmessTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps Her Majesty's Customs and Excise are taking to acquire additional information technology skills from the private sector.
§ Mr. RyderFollowing a procurement exercise involving 12 potential suppliers and a very thorough evaluation of proposals, HM Customs and Excise has, with the assistance of the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency, selected Logica Communications and Electronic Systems Limited, to provide staff to assist with the maintenance and enhancement of existing IT systems and the development of new projects, and BIS Applied Systems Limited, to assist in the area of project management and control.
The first project to benefit from those arrangements will be VAT II, which has been set up to develop a replacement for the existing VAT system initially implemented in 1973.