HL Deb 27 January 2004 vol 656 cc29-30WA
Earl Attlee

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What was the total amount of public funds (a) expended on, and (b) written off with regard to, the Defence Stores Management Solution; and what they hoped to achieve. [HL788]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach)

The total amount expended on the Defence Stores Management Solution (DSMS) was £148 million and the total amount written off was £118 million. The original objectives of the DSMS were to build a single system to replace the existing Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force Systems, and to provide a deployed inventory management capability. Estimated net savings of £650 million were anticipated over a 10-year period from its implementation.

The MoD believes it has learnt valuable lessons from the work undertaken on DSMS, which will help to inform our decisions on any future solution to the requirement.

Earl Attlee

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What was the value of hardware procured for the Defence Stores Management Solution; what it consists of; where it is held; and what is its future. [HL789]

Lord Bach

£10.811 million of hardware was procured in support of the Defence Stores Management Solution.

The hardware comprised the following: IBM mainframe computers, storage servers, firewalls, MIS servers, training and development servers, backup systems and network equipment and infrastructure to support staff and the model office environment.

The hardware is currently held in the following locations: Glasgow, Bicester, Boscombe Down, Warminster and Bath.

Of the £10.811 million of equipment, £8.776 million has been redeployed to support other business units within the Ministry of Defence.