§ Mr. Hendersonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the progress of the Inland Revenue's project to computerise the pay-as-you-earn system, including a comparison of the planned and most recent estimates for completion and of costs for computers, peripherals and software.
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§ Sir Geoffrey HoweWhen the Government's decision to proceed with the computerisation of the PAYE system was announced on 11 November 1980, the Inland Revenue's plan was to complete the design and development of the system by the end of 1983 or the beginning of 1984. There would then follow a year of testing the system in live operation in a small number of tax districts before the computerised system was introduced throughout the country with the aim of completion by the end of 1987 or early 1988. That plan is unaltered and the Inland Revenue is still working to that timetable.
The current estimate of total gross expenditure required to establish the national computer system—including equipment and maintenance, staff and accommodation—up to the end of 1987 is about £200 million at current prices compared with the estimate last year of £180 million at 1980 prices. Computer equipment, including software, support and maintenance and communication costs are currently estimated at just over £100 million.