§ Richard Younger-RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what has been the total expenditure of his Department on IT systems and support in each year from May 1997 to date; how many IT contracts have been let in each of those years; of the other main contracting party in each of those contracts, how many have been(a) companies whose registered office is in (i) England and Wales, (ii) Scotland and (iii) Northern Ireland and (b) foreign companies; and what are the names of the companies falling within category (a). [33687]
§ Mr. McCartneyThe Department of Social Security and the Employment Services both had made their own contractual arrangements for Information Technology (IT) prior to the formation of the Department for Work and Pensions.
Department of Social Security
The Department spent £1.6 billion on Information Technology (IT) between May 1997 and December 2001.
The Department has let four contracts from May 1997 to date. These contracts were the ACCORD IS/IT contract let to three main parties, EDS (let 23 February 1999), ICL (let 25 February 1999) and BT plc (let 25 March 1999), all of whom have their registered offices in England and the SASA contract let in August 1997 to SEMA Group UK who also have their registered offices in England. Under the ACCORD contract there have been four specific businesses allocations awarded to date.
Employment Service
The Department spent £286 million on Information Technology (IT) between May 1997 and December 2001.
On 1 August 1998 the Employment Services (ES) entered into a partnership agreement with EDS (Electronic Data Systems). The registered office for EDS is Stockley Park, England.
ES entered into an IT contract with International Computers Ltd. (ICL) between 1 April 1997 and 30 September 2000. The ICL registered office is in England.
On 3 February 1997 ES entered into a contract with Siemens Nixdorf Systems Ltd. The SNS registered office is in England.