HC Deb 12 March 2001 vol 364 cc500-2W
Mr. Field

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the(a) payments made since 1996 and (b) payments due to be made, by his Department to Siemens for the caseworking system for asylum claimants. [151482]

Mrs. Roche

The contract between the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) of the Home Office and Siemens Business Services (SBS) contains a complex charging mechanism, details of which are commercially confidential. Elements include a productivity-related charge linked to the achievement of reductions in the unit cost of all IND's caseworking activities (not merely of asylum casework) and a fixed monthly charge for a range of technical services specified in the contract. By the end of the current financial year, we would expect to have paid SBS about £25 million in total since the contract began in 1996. The basis of future payments is under discussion with SBS following the joint decision to discontinue the development of the full casework application.