§ Mr. Woodallasked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will provide information on the current uses of computers within his Department and plans for their further introduction and extension.
§ Mr. Nicholas EdwardsAt present microcomputers are used for discrete administrative applications which do not require large data bases, such as certain aspects of the agricultural subsidy schemes, urban programme grants, analysis of road accidents, monitoring of road building, departmental finance and small statistics projects. For the larger data bases used in the provision of statistical services in Wales, mainframe computers are used, located either in other Government Departments or at commercial bureaux. Similarly, mainframe computers located in other Government Departments are used for certain large scale payment operations.
For the future, consideration is being given to the acquisition of more powerful in-house systems to meet the growing need for computer services and to provide the opportunity to take fuller advantage of the wider range of developments in office technology.