Information Technology (Hansard, 19 October 1989)

§ Mr. Warren
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many officials in his Department at grade 3 and above have, since promotion to the level of grade 3, attended a course(a) specifically on information technology and (b) containing an element of information technology; and what percentage each represents of all the staff in those grades in his Department.

§ Mr. Sainsbury
Seven such officials have attended courses specifically on information technology: this represents 23 per cent. of those relevant grades serving in both the diplomatic service and Overseas Development Administration wings of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Other officers in these grades have undertaken courses containing an element of information technology, but this information is not readily available.

§ Mr. Warren
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many work stations excluding stand-alone word processors are currently installed in his Department; and what is the ratio of such work stations to civil servants.

§ Mr. Sainsbury
In both the diplomatic service and Overseas Development Administration wings of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, at home and abroad, there is an approximate total of 2,800 work stations (computer terminals), excluding stand-alone work proces-sors. The ratio of these to United Kingdom civil servants is three civil servants to one terminal, but many of the 187W overseas terminals are used by locally engaged staff and the ratio (including both United Kingdom and locally engaged staff) is 5:1

§ Mr. Warren
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which Minister in his Department is responsible for day-to-day management of his Department's information technology strategy; and what proportion of his time was spent on this matter in the month up to Friday 13 October.

§ Mr. Sainsbury
The day-to-day management of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's information technology (IT) strategy is the responsibility of officials. The Ministers with overall responsibility for IT matters in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office are my noble Friend Lord Brabazon of Tara in the diplomatic service wing, and my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for Overseas Development. It would not be practicable to calculate what specific portion of a Minister's time is devoted to IT issues, since IT is now so well integrated into the Department's general business functions.