§ Mr. RedwoodTo ask the President of the Council if she has completed an audit of the state of readiness for millennium compliance in the public sector. [59268]
§ Mrs. BeckettMy right hon. Friend the Member for South Shields (Dr. Clark) first reported to the House on the progress that was being made by central government departments and agencies in achieving millennium compliance on 27 November 1997,Official Report, columns 1104–05. Arrangements were then put in place to monitor progress on a quarterly basis. Three subsequent statements on progress across central government have since been made. The results of the last review, which I published on 9 September, showed that good progress is being made by departments and agencies in tackling the millennium bug. Work on correcting priority, business-critical, systems is particularly well advanced.
110WThe Government also reported on progress across the wider public sector in their statement in the House on 8 June 1998, Official Report, columns 716–18. More detailed information on key parts of the wider public sector was then made available in the September statement.
It is intended to issue the next statement on progress in tackling the bug shortly.