§ Mr. MaplesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what his estimate is of the cost to his Department of(a) consultants and (b) contractors engaged to address millennium computer compliance problems; and he if will list the consultants and contractors. [32310]
§ Mr. Milburn[holding answer 3 March 1998]: For budgetary purposes, the Department does not differentiate between consultants and contractors. The core Department, excluding its agencies, has spent £0.8 million (excluding VAT) to date and anticipates a further £2.2 million (excluding Value Added Tax) expenditure on consultants/contractors employed to address millennium compliance. The main organisations used to provide consultant/contractor services are Parity Solutions Ltd, Computer People and Alexander Consulting for business systems and ICL-CFM for the information technology infrastructure.
§ Mrs. GillanTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and which NHS organisations failed to present their plans and budgets for year 2000 computer compliance by 5 pm on 31 March. [37488]
§ Mr. MilburnThe information requested will be made available when those returns received by the due date have been checked for completeness.