HC Deb 27 October 1997 vol 299 cc661-2W
Mr. Todd

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list each of the functions relating to payment for goods or services supplied for which his Department is responsible indicating the management systems purchased, all sub-contractors involved in the work, co-operative arrangements with other Departments; and the costs of the systems and processes in the last year for which figures are available. [12564]

Mr. Spellar

This is a matter for the chief executive of the Defence Bills Agency. I have asked the chief executive to write to my hon. Friend.

Letter from Mr. I. S. Elrick to Mr. Mark Todd, dated 27 October 1997: I am replying to your Question to the Secretary of State for Defence about payment for MOD goods and services as, in the main, this matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of the Defence Bills Agency. The Defence Bills Agency is the Primary bill payment authority for MOD but the Meteorological Office, Hydrographic Office and Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) also undertake specified bill payment action. Set out below is the information you requested for each operating system. The Defence Bills Agency operates a bespoke system, developed in-house, which integrates contract control functionality with the bill payment system. Certain support functions are provided using systems supplied by AVCO Systems Ltd and ROCC Computers Ltd. During 1996–97 the system was operated on an ICL 3965 Dual Node Mainframe. The operating platform has been uprated in 1997–98 to an ICL SX 485–20 to cope with the additional requirements arising from the introduction of Resource Accounting. The operating cost of the system in 1996–97 was £2.4 million (excluding VAT). During 1996–97 the Meteorological Office used a Ross purchase ledger run on a VAX machine. DERA assisted in implementing this system and supported both hardware and software. The operating costs of the systems and processes was £222,000 (excluding VAT). The Hydrographic Office used Prophecy Version 2 running on a DEC Alpha box under UNIX. Software supply, maintenance and development was provided by Radius Computer Systems Ltd. The operating cost of the bill payment systems and processes was £66,000 (excluding VAT) during 1996–97. During 1996–97 DERA used Digital Equipment Company VAX hardware running Ross Classic software. No sub-contractors were used in developing or operating the system during 1996–97. The operating cost of the systems and processes was £1.8 million (excluding VAT).