§ Mr. ParryTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on his official visit to Crosby.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardMy right hon. Friend the former Secretary of State visited the Department's local office in Crosby on 30 June 1989. Crosby is one of 23 pilot offices which are rigorously testing three major computer systems in our computerisation programmeߞthe operational strategy—before it is extended to cover the rest of our local office network from October. The purpose of the visit was to meet the staff and to see how the operational strategy was performing in a pilot office. The office was open to the press on the day of the visit so that they could see the systems demonstrated. Despite industrial action by some staff my right hon. Friend was able to meet other members of staff and the visit was both informative and successful.