§ Mr. ByersTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many contracts the Inland Revenue has entered into with the computer company EDS-Scion or its predecessor EDS; when the contracts were entered into; what is their total value; and what is the subject matter of each contract.
§ Mr. Dorrell[holding answer 1 July 1994]: On 23 May 1994, the Inland Revenue signed contracts with Electronic Data Systems Ltd. for the supply of information technology services to the Department over the next 10 years, starting on 1 July 1994. Over 100 agreements make up the contracts with EDS covering such matters as the pricing and regulation of the service arrangements, the transfer of assets from the Revenue to EDS, the transfer of staff, the leases and licenses to property which EDS will occupy, services which the Revenue will supply to EDS on shared sites, third party agreements allowing EDS the right to various services already supplied to the Revenue and various other documents and side letters.
The 10-year contract is estimated to be worth around £1 billion, and is expected to enable the Inland Revenue to make savings of 15 to 20 per cent. in the costs of its information technology support.