HL Deb 25 June 1998 vol 591 c38WA
Lord Avebury

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What payments have been made by the prison authorities in England and Wales and in Scotland respectively in respect of unlicensed software found to have been used in their establishments as a result of enquiries by the Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) or otherwise; what measures have been taken to ensure that unlicensed software is not being used at prisons which have not been investigated by FAST; and whether they are satisfied that there are no remaining instances of software piracy in any prison. [HL2271]

Lord Williams of Mostyn

After a full audit of one prison in England, £37,600 was paid to FAST in respect of software for which current licences could not be proved. Existing Prison Service instructions on the need for diligence in this respect have been reinforced by the issue of audit software to all public establishments with the further instruction requiring an annual audit to be carried out. Backed up by appropriate independent audit checks, this provides a reasonable level of assurance that any misuse of software, inadvertent or otherwise, can be identified and corrective action taken.

In Scotland, no such payments have been made. Scottish Prison Service software is centrally procured. Network security designed to prevent unlicensed software being used locally is in place.

Lord Avebury

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether instructions have been issued to the governors of prisons in England and Wales and in Scotland respectively to maintain logbooks showing all commercial software programs acquired by their establishments and recording details of periodic checks made to ensure that no unlicensed software is in use. [HL2272]

Lord Williams of Mostyn

All public Prison Service establishments in England and Wales have been issued with software designed to audit the use of commercial software. Training on its use has been provided and each prison is required to carry out a full annual audit of software in use and to check that each item has a current licence. Prisons are being advised to carry out interim checks on at least a quarterly basis.

In Scotland, local records are not maintained because the approval of the central Information Technology Branch is required for all local software purchases. In practice, very few such purchases are made.