HC Deb 14 July 1997 vol 298 cc75-6W
Mr. David Atkinson

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on his Department's timetable for dealing with the Year 2000 Computer Problem; who is in charge of the project; how many staff are working on it; and what is the projected cost of resolving the problem; and whether the project is on schedule. [7133]

Ms Jowell

The Department has conducted an audit of all its computer systems and produced a high level plan to address the problem. The Department is committed to having all business critical systems fully compliant by the Central Information Technology Unit recommended deadline.

The work programme is being co-ordinated by the Department's head of applications development and support who reports to the Departmental Information Systems Steering Committee on the Year 2000 issue.

All IT staff have a responsibility for ensuring applications under development are Year 2000 compliant. There are currently five staff dedicated to Year 2000 work.

A fully costed, timed and prioritised programme of remedial work will be prepared by the autumn.