§ Mr. Clifton-BrownTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list each major new computer system that(a) his Department, (b) non-departmental bodies and (c) agencies under his responsibility have purchased in the last five years; what was the initial purchase cost and what was the final cost; what was each system's (i) planned and (ii) actual date of commissioning; what major computer systems will be purchased by bodies in categories (a), (b) and (c) in the next financial year; and what is their estimated cost. [27850]
§ Mrs. LiddellThe information is given in tables, copies of which have been placed in the Library. For most of the departments and agencies covered, the costs shown are the costs of the contracts placed for the systems concerned, using estimates for any variable elements. Costs which are spread over several years have been aggregated. The costs cover externally-provided hardware, software and implementation costs and may, in addition, cover other costs such as training where this was purchased as part of the initial contract. The costs of in-house project development are not included. Support and on-going maintenance costs are excluded. For the Inland Revenue, special factors have required the use of different conventions, most notably the inclusion of in-house development costs. Such differences have been footnoted.
A major computer system has been taken to be one whose costs, on the basis described above, exceed £1 million. On this definition, the Royal Mint, the Registry of Friendly Societies, the National Investment Loans Office and the Debt Management Office (which will be formally established on 1 April 1998) have not purchased any major computer systems and do not expect to do so in 1998–99.