§ Mr. Hordernasked the Minister for the Civil Service how many Departments have installed word processors, microcomputers and other information services; and if she will give details of each Department's purchase of each service, and their cost.
§ Mr. HayhoeI refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave on 21 May to my hon. Friend the Member for Brigg and Scunthorpe (Mr. Brown).—[Vol. 5, c. 182.] Full details of the location of microcomputers and word processors used in Government offices are not available, but they are used in all major and many of the smaller Government Departments. The cost of these machines ranges from a few hundred pounds to about £10,000. As for larger computers, more than 650 large and medium-sized systems are used in Government Departments for administrative and scientific purposes. Details of these, including their locations, are listed annually in a supplement to the HMSO publication "Management Services in Government". The most recent list was issued with the May 1981 edition, a copy of which is available in the House of Commons Library. Information on the cost of all these systems could be provided only at disproportionate expense.