HC Deb 11 November 1980 vol 992 cc111-2W
Mr. Field

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what technical advice he has sought from specialised technical agencies such as the Central Computer and Telecommunication Agency and the National Computer Centre in relation to the choice of electronic or microcomputer-based equipment to be provided by his Department for severely handicapped people.

Mr. Prentice

Technical advice about electronic equipment is available to me from the Scientific and Technical Branch of this Department; and about microcomputer-based equipment from the Management Support and Computers Division. So far, it has not been necessary for them to consult the central computer and telecommunication agency or the National Computer Centre.

Mr. Field

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the commercially available miniature Winchester disc systems available for personal microcomputers; whether any of these has been the subject of technical evaluation by officers of his Department; and whether any research has been undertaken, or is proposed, into the use of these disc systems to assist digitised speech synthesis by people without speech.

Mr. Prentice

Commercially available miniature Winchester disc systems, available for personal microcomputers, have not been investigated and, therefore, a list is not available.