§ Mr. Coombsasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list those companies to which his 217W Department has awarded contracts for the supply of word processing hardware and software in each year since 1984; and what was the value of each contract.
§ Mr. ButcherThe main suppliers of dedicated word processing hardware and software to the Department of Trade and Industry, central purchasing organisation since 1984 have been: BT (Merlin), GEC Reliance, ICL, Logica VTS, Olympia and Thorn EMI. The details of contracts placed are subject to commercial confidentiality.
§ Mr. Coombsasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much his Department has spent on (a) word processing hardware and (b) word processing software in each year since 1984; and what is the projected expenditure for financial years 1987–88 and 1988–89.
§ Mr. ButcherExpenditure by the central purchasing organisation of the Department of Trade and Industry on word processing hardware and software since 1984 has been, or is estimated to be, as follows:
£ 1984–85 556,000 1985–86 361,000 1986–87 234,000 1987–88 300,000 1988–89 350,000 The cost of word processing software is normally included in the price of dedicated word processors. The Department has also purchased microcomputers and other hardware for other applications. A small but unspecified amount of word processing is carried out as a secondary function on some of this hardware.
§ Mr. Coombsasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list those companies to which his Department has awarded contracts for the supply of desktop publishing hardware and software in each year since 1984; and what was the value of each contract.
§ Mr. ButcherThe central purchasing organisation of the Department of Trade and Industry did not purchase any desktop publishing hardware or software in the years 1984–85 or 1985–86. Limited purchasing took place in 1986–87 but the names of the companies concerned cannot be disclosed because of commercial confidentiality.
218W
Distribution of total income1 in 1987–88 for taxpaying single people and married couples with investment income of more than £500 per annum Numbers of incomes (thousands) Total income1 (lower limit) Tax units2 aged under 653 Tax units2 aged 65 and over3 £ per annum Single people Married couples with no wife's earned income Married couples with wife's earned income Single people Married couples with no wife's earned income Married couples with wife's earned income 2,000 160 negligible negligible 180 negligible negligible 5,000 90 30 20 130 110 20 7,000 110 60 60 130 80 70 10,000 40 50 60 50 30 30 12,000 60 50 110 50 30 40 15,000 80 60 270 40 30 50 20,000 60 90 310 30 30 60 30,000 30 70 210 10 20 20 50,000 10 30 60 10 10 10 1 Gross income for income tax purposes. 2 Counting each married couple as one unit and combining the partners' incomes. 3 A married couple is taken to be aged 65 or over if at least one partner is aged 65 or over.
§ Mr. Coombsasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much his Department has spent on (a) desktop publishing hardware and (b) desktop publishing software in each year since 1984; and what is projected expenditure for financial years 1987–88 and 1988–89.
§ Mr. ButcherExpenditure by the central purchasing organisation of the Department of Trade and Industry on desktop publishing hardware and software since 1984 has been, or is estimated to be, as follows:
£ 1984–85 Nil 1985–86 Nil 1986–87 28,000 1987–88 70,000 1988–89 50,000 The cost of desktop publishing software was included in the price of the hardware purchases and is not separately identifiable in the projected expenditure.