§ Mr. HuttonTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will update the estimate contained in his answer to the hon. Member for Sunderland, South (Mr. Mullin) of 16 October 1995,Official Report, column 7, relating to the savings which will accrue as the result of the contract awarded to EDS Ltd. to provide information technology services for the Inland Revenue. [975]
§ Mr. JackAt the time of signature of the contract with EDS for the provision of IT services—May 1994—the Inland Revenue estimated that the Department would save £225 million, compared with continuing in-house costs, over the 10 years of the contract. This was based on transfer of work to EDS in two phases in July 1994 and January 1996.
The latest estimate shows that total savings to the Department are still expected to be of a very similar order—in the range £220 million to £225 million—though precise figures of savings will always still depend on the future level of the Department's information technology requirements.