§ Mr. Malcolm BruceTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his latest estimate of the total cost of resolving the computer millennium problem in(a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) other public bodies for which he is responsible; if he will give in each case (i) expenditure incurred to date, (ii) expenditure planned for 1997–98, (iii) expenditure planned for 1998–99 and (iv) expenditure planned for 1999–00; and if he will make a statement. [13588]
§ Mr. MorleyThe current best estimate of cost for resolving the computer problem for each financial year is as follows:
£ Expenditure incurred to date (1996–97) 354,000 Expenditure allocated for 1997–98 2,710,000 Expenditure estimated for 1998–99 4,514,000 Expenditure estimated for 1999–2000 1,813,000 Making a total of 9,391,000 Including Agencies, non-IT "embedded chip" aspects and possible replacement of scientific equipment, total final costs are expected to exceed £11 million.
Non-Departmental Public Bodies' costs are not included; all have been contacted and asked to progress required action.
§ Mr. Malcolm BruceTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when his Department, its agencies and other public bodies for which he is responsible completed the millennium computer compliance audits of systems; and if he will make a statement. [13590]
136W
§ Mr. MorleyAudits of all the Department's major business-critical systems are now complete. Although the scope of the overall millennium programme continues to widen, all residual audit activity (including that relating to non-IT "embedded chip" aspects and scientific equipment) will be completed by the end of 1997.
§ Mr. Malcolm BruceTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on what funding provision has been made to accommodate the expenditure needed to resolve the computer millennium problem; and if he expects to have sufficient funding to pay for the work necessary to achieve complete millennium compliance by 1 January 2000. [13589]
§ Mr. MorleyIt is currently planned that funding for preventive and remedial action to resolve the computer millennium problem will be met from existing PES provision. The estimated costs are shown in the table in the reply given to the hon. Member today; current financial plans include coverage for these figures.
However, some aspects of the programme are still largely an unknown quantity. There is a likelihood, therefore, that some non-critical work may need to be deferred beyond the end-December 1998 target set by the Central IT Unit of the Cabinet Office, that additional funds may need to be sought, or a combination of both.
§ Mr. Malcolm BruceTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish the action plan, due by 1 October 1997, for resolving the computer millennium problem in his Department, its agencies and other public bodies for which he is responsible; if such was fully completed on time; and if he will make a statement. [13587]
§ Mr. MorleyIn compliance with the Government-wide target set by the Cabinet Office's Central IT Unit (CITU), MAFF has submitted an action plan, required by October 1997. The costed action plan will be analysed by CITU and the CCTA and the conclusions reported to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster who will then inform Parliament. The plans will be exempted from disclosure under the Open Government Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, which permits non-disclosure prior to an announcement. However once the announcement has been made the plans will be available to the public.
§ Mr. Malcolm BruceTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food which(a) Minister and (b) civil servant has overall responsibility for ensuring millennium computer compliance in his Department and its associated public bodies. [13591]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has overall responsibility for ensuring millennium computer compliance in his Department and its associated bodies. The Director of IT is in charge of the Department's overall Millennium Programme which consists of a number of parallel projects covering different aspects of the Department's computer systems and associated technical infrastructure. The Director (Estates) co-ordinates all aspects of a separate project which has been established to address 'non-IT' equipment containing embedded microprocessor chip technology.