§ Mr. KaufmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department spent on IT, itemising(a) personal computers, (b) main-frame, (c) mini-computers and (d) file servers in the last year for which figure are available. [52877]
§ Mr. FatchettIn 1997–98 this Department spent £21.1 million capital on IT equipment, including the first phase of a programme to supply industry-standard common software and hardware to all Posts overseas. Of this, £5.3 million was for purchase of personal computers; the balance was spent on set-up costs—including minor522W building works at Posts—software, cabling, peripheral equipment, and communications equipment. None was for purchase of main-frame, mini-computers or file servers.