§ Mr. David AtkinsonTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on her Department's timetable for dealing with the Year 2000 Computer Problem; who is in charge of the project; how many staff are working on it; what is the projected cost of resolving the problem; and whether the project is on schedule. [7138]
§ Clare ShortWe expect to have resolved problems relating to the year 2000 on information systems critical to the business of the Department by the end of 1998. We are working in parallel on smaller systems established by various sections within the DFID, and expect to resolve them by mid-1999. The identifiable cost of dealing with Year 2000 issues is around £200,000 although this figure is an underestimate of the total since other Year 2000 costs have been subsumed within the costs of rewriting critical systems for a new operating environment. The official in overall charge of dealing with the Year 2000 is the head of the Information Systems Department. The number of staff working on the project is around five, supplemented by resources brought in from consultants.