§ Mr. Menzies CampbellTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the information technology projects currently being undertaken by his Department and by agencies responsible to his Department, including(a) the start date, (b) the planned completion date, (c) the current expected completion date, (d) the planned costs and (e) the current estimated cost; and if he will make a statement. [99672]
§ Mr. BattleThe FCO has under way the following IT projects
165WFIRECREST—an infrastructure project to provide modern, easy to use office automation systems throughout the FCO, at home and overseas.GTP—an integrated and managed Global Telecommunications service, being procured under PFI principles. The costs shown cover procurement only. The projected costs of FCO communications over 10 years are estimated to be £238 million.FORTRESS—to provide desk officers with electronic delivery and access to intelligence material.VIP—to provide an integrated visa entry clearance for Posts. POAC—to provide a replacement accounting system for Posts.PASSPORTS—to provide modern machine readable passport systems at major consular Posts.PAY—to contract a replacement payroll bureau service.INTRANET—to provide Posts and FCO UK with an Intranet.CDB—to provide a database for Commercial Officers at Posts.DSP—to provide Diplomatic Service Procedures in electronic form to Posts and Home Departments.
£ million Start date Planned completion date Current expected completion date Planned cost Current estimated cost POAC July 1997 September 1999 March 2000 3.5 4.5 PASSPORTS January 1999 December 2001 December 2001 1.2 2.4 PAY February 1997 July 1998 December 1999 0.5 0.6 INTRANET March 1999 March 2000 March 2000 0.7 0.6 CDB May 1998 January 2000 March 2000 1.0 1.0 DSP January 1998 August 1998 December 1999 0.1 0.1