HC Deb 15 May 2003 vol 405 c366W
Mr. Yeo

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if she will make a statement on the(a) cost of and (b) number of visitors to each website operated by her Department and each agency and non-departmental public body for which her Department is responsible in each year since its establishment. [107630]

Mrs. Liddell

The Scotland Office website is www.scottishsecretary.gov.uk, which was set up in 1999 by departmental staff. Operating costs for the site are estimated at £300 per year. The numbers of page impressions recorded for the site in each year are as follows:

Number
1999–2000 26,092
2000–01 194,981
2000–02 356,122
2000–03 1454,482
1 Figures to end February

My Department is also responsible for the Friends of Scotland website (www.friendsofscotland.gov.uk), which was established in July 2002. The cost of developing the website was £95,804. Details of annual operating costs are not yet available but the network support and development costs to date are £12,435. The number of page impressions recorded between July 2002 and March 2003 was 479,242.

The only non-departmental body for which my Department is responsible is the Boundary Commission. The Commission's website was established in June 2001 and came fully into operation in February 2002. Since that time the site has recorded approximately 10,000 page impressions. The cost of developing and maintaining the site was £5,125.