§ Mr. Stephen O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been spent in each year by his Department in preparing for United Kingdom entry to the euro; how much his Department plans to spend on preparations for United Kingdom entry to the euro for each year from the current financial year up to and including 2005–06; and what estimates he has made of the total costs to his Department of changeover to the European Single Currency. [131602]
§ Mr. PondDetails of expenditure on changeover planning were included in the third outline National Changeover Plan, published on 9 June 2003. Copies of the document are available in the Library.
It is difficult to estimate with any accuracy how much any changeover would cost. It would depend on the approach taken. In particular, many IT systems will be euro compatible as a result of our modernisation programme, which would reduce the costs of any euro changeover.