§ Mr. Don FosterTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the expenditure incurred by his Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies on(a) the setting up and (b) the operation of websites, indicating the cases in which the expenditure has been above that budgeted; and if he will list for each website (i) the topics covered, (ii) the current average number of hits per month and (iii) the estimated expenditure on each website for each of the next three years. [70966]
§ Mr. Dewar[holding answer 15 February 1999]: My Department's website provides information on a wide range of topics, including copies of all Departmental publications.
933WThe information sought for my Department and its agencies is set out in the tables. Table 1 lists websites the costs of which are met directly by The Scottish Office. Running cost figures include internal staff costs borne by the bodies concerned. Table 2 lists websites maintained by executive agencies of The Scottish Office. Table 3 lists the addresses for each website. It would not be practically
Table 1: The Scottish Office Department Set-up costs (£) Annual operation costs (£) Over budget Average number of hits per month Year Estimated expenditure over the next three years1(£) Scottish Office 38,000 98,000 No 229,000 1999–2000 95,000 2000–2001 95,000 2001–2002 95,000 Scottish Office—HMI Educational Research Unit 900 300 No 36,000 1999–2000 300 2000–2001 300 2001–2002 300 Scottish Office—Scottish Devolution 14,000 24,000 No 45,000 1999–2001 5,000 Scottish Office—Scottish Health 80,200 90,400 No 600,000 1999–2000 256,000 2000–2001 350,000 2001–2002 350,000 Scottish Office—Sustainable Scotland 7,000 — No 4,000 1999–2000 5,000 2000–2001 5,000 2001–2002 5,000 Scottish Parliament 60,000 — — — — — Notes:
The information given in Table 1 should be qualified as follows:
1As electronic publishing and the web is a fast changing environment the estimated expenditure on each of the websites over the next 3 years should be treated with caution.
Some of the operation costs for HMI Educational Research Unit are included within Scottish Office annual operation costs.
The Scottish Devolution website will be wound up in May 1999 to coincide with the Scottish Parliament elections and launch of the Parliament's own website.
The £7,000 set up cost for the Sustainable Scotland website includes year 1 operation costs.
The estimated set-up cost for design and development of the Scottish Parliament website is £60,000. Information on operation costs and average hits per month are not available, as the website is not yet up and running.
934W possible to list exhaustively the wide range of topics dealt with by each. Information relating to non-departmental public bodies in Scotland is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Table 2: The Scottish Office Agencies Agencies Set-up costs (£) Annual operation costs (£) Over budget Average number of hits per month Year Estimated expenditure over the next three years (£) Fisheries Research Services 1,400 2,000 No 1,000 1999–2000 2,000 2000–2001 2,000 2001–2002 2,000 Historic Scotland 80,000 12,900 No 48,000 1999–2000 13,000 2000–2001 13,000 2001–2002 13,000 Registers of Scotland Executive Agency 1,000 2,000 No 1,000 1999–2000 40,000 2000–2001 10,000 2001–2002 10,000 Scottish Agricultural Science Agency 5,000 600 No 30 1999–2000 2,000 2000–2001 2,000 2001–2002 3,000 Student Awards Agency for Scotland 2,000 500 No 2,000 1999–2000 1,000 2000–2001 1,000 2001–2002 1,000 From 1 July 1999 this will a matter for the Scottish Parliament.
935W
Table 3: Website addresses Scottish Office and Agencies Address Fisheries Research Services www.marlab.ac.uk Historic Scotland www.historic-scotland.gov.uk Registers of Scotland Executive Agency (currently use the CCTA website) www.open.gov.uk/roshome.htm Scottish Agricultural Science Agency www.sasa.gov.uk Scottish Office www.scotland.gov.uk Scottish Office—HMI Educational Research Unit www.hmis.scotoff.gov.uk/riu Scottish Office—Scottish Devolution www.scottish-devolution.org.uk Scottish Office—Scottish Health www.show.scot.nhs.uk Scottish Office—Sustainable Scotland www.sustainable.scotland.gov.uk Student Awards Agency for Scotland www.student-support-saas.gov.uk