Lord Lucasasked Her Majesty's Government:
What action remains to be taken to prepare their computer software for the year 2000; whether this action will be completed in time; and how much it is expected to cost.
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyThis is essentially the responsibility of individual departments. However my right honourable friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has recently written to all ministerial Heads of Department to ensure that they are aware of the arrangements which exist for dealing with the year 2000 date change problem.
From within the Cabinet Office (OPS), departments are supported by the Central Information Technology Unit (CITU) and the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA). As part of that support, CITU and CCTA have identified a programme of action to ensure that government's response to the year 2000 problem is co-ordinated and coherent. This involves each department in producing a detailed and costed action plan by October to ensure that all their systems are modified and tested by January 1999.
133WAMy right honourable friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer has made clear that departments will have to live within their existing running cost limits for 1997–98 and 1998–99, as well as within their overall cash limits. Therefore the cost of preventive and remedial action will be met from existing provision.
The recent National Audit Office report Managing the Millennium Threat demonstrated that the public sector were doing as well as the private sector in tackling the problem.
The CCTA has also produced a six volume set of guides covering every aspect of starting, managing and successfully implementing a full year 2000 compliance programme. The set, called Tackling the Year 2000, forms the most detailed impartial guidance available to date.