HC Deb 19 October 1989 vol 158 cc215-6W
Mr. Warren

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment 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. Chris Patten

Ten officials in the Department at grade 3 and above have attended a course specifically on information technology; and a further seven have attended a course containing an element of information technology. This represents respectively 18 per cent. and 12 per cent. of all staff in those grades in the Department.

Mr. Warren

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment 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. Patten

About 1,950 in the Department of the Environment (excluding the Property Services Agency); a ratio of one work station to three members of staff. The figure includes all terminals, microcomputers, word processors (excluding stand-alone word processors) and portable text processors.

In the Property Services Agency (including the Crown Suppliers) there are some 2,370 work stations representing one for every 6.6 members of staff.

Mr. Warren

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment 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. Patten

The day-to-day management of the information strategy in the Department of the Environment (Central) is undertaken by an information technology steering group. The chairman of this committee (a grade 3 civil servant) consults me or my ministerial colleagues as appropriate.

My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Southampton, Itchen (Mr. Chope) is kept in touch with developments in the Property Services Agency, for which he is responsible.