HC Deb 11 June 2003 vol 406 cc977-80W
Mr. Yeo

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the(a) cost of and (b) number of visitors to each website operated by his Department and each agency and non-departmental public body for which his Department is responsible in each year since its establishment. [107636]

Mr. Paul Murphy

The main Northern Ireland Office website was launched in 1997 and developed in house. It was redesigned in June 2001. Monthly assessment reports for the Northern Ireland Office site are forwarded to the Office of the e-Envoy and are placed in the Library.

The Northern Ireland Office also has responsibility for management of two internal websites: the Criminal Justice System for Northern Ireland site, which was launched in July 2002; and the Organised Crime Task Force site, which was launched in September 2002.

The total cost of all three sites to date is as follows:

£
NIO website
Redesign cost 23,402.00
Operating cost for the 12 months 4,939.97
CJNI website
Cost to date 13,160.00
OCTF website
Cost to date 4,960.00
Total costs to date 45,761.97

Cost of Websites
£
Department 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03
OFMDFM 0 0 0 0 0 2,661
DARD 0 0 0 0 0 1,900
DCAL 0 0 0 0 0 24,000
DE 0 0 0 0 0 0
DEL 0 0 0 270,000 289,972 39,805
DETI 0 0 0 12,200 0 50,400
DFP 0 0 0 0 0 0
DHSSPS 0 7,100 0 0 0 0

The figures provided do not include staffing costs.

The Northern Ireland Office website has received the following number of page hits (the number of visits could be obtained only at disproportionate cost):

Northern Ireland Office
Number
1997 398,832
1998 2,655,045
1999 2,728,304
2000 3,506,310
2001 4,959,502
2002 8,379,957
2003 (on 30 April) 5,587,572

BDS (an agency of DFP) provided hosting services for all Departments, except DEL, at a notional cost of £219,000 for 2001–02 and £172,000 for 2002–03, which have been included in the figure for costs. It is not possible to provide figures prior to 1 April 2001, as web information and costs were then an integral part of other telecommunications services. The figures provided do not include staffing costs.

The Criminal Justice System Northern Ireland site has received the following visits:

Criminal Justice System Northern Ireland
Number
July 2002 78
August 2002 784
September 2002 1,241
October 2002 1,405
November 2002 1,265
December 2002 1,047
January 2003 1,490
February 2003 1,324
March 2003 1,345

The Organised Crime Task Force Site (OCTF) has received the following number of visits:

Organised Crime Task Force
Number
September 2002 543
October 2002 1,711
November 2002 2,866
December 2002 2,206
January 2003 3,194
February 2003 3,270
March 2003 3,862

The cost of the Northern Ireland Administration's websites and the number of hits to each website in each year from 1997 are set out in the tables:

Cost of Websites
£
Department 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03
DOE 0 0 0 0 0 24,000
DRD 0 0 0 0 10,000 24,000
DSD 0 0 0 0 6,251 9,376
Total 0 7,100 0 282,200 306,223 176,142
BDS 219,000 172,000
Total 0 7,100 0 282,200 525,223 348,142

Number of Hits
Department 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03
OFMDFM 395,640 586,500 674,324
DARD 169,966 242,179 643,840 1,293,900 4,841,813 4,447,528
DCAL 32,652 351,885 514,263 1,115,902
DE 231,648 595,359 1,582,770 2,194,800 371,564 14,998,806
DEL 2,571,227 5,929,386
DETI 417,098 243,576 2,665,363 3,940,545
DFP 11,214 62,230 142,798 257,345 361,998 532,582
DHSSPS 64,742 443,225 2,085,913 1,726,407 5,529,678 9,332,949
DOE 283,959 1,977,486 4,424,783 2,403,468 163,935 3,420,266
DRD 0 58,176 240,237 5,599,072
DSD 27 417,998 432,450 4,149,133
Total 761,529 3,320,479 9,329,881 9,343,195 19,002,745 55,558,711

The Northern Ireland Devolved Administration was established on 2 December 1999. At that date new Departments were created and there was a transfer of functions, which resulted in some Departments having their responsibilities adjusted. The Administration does not hold records in relation to hits on websites prior to 1997.