§ Mr. BrakeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what contingency plans have been made in case of failure of(a) the CAA's suppliers to complete year 2000 compliance changes and (b) the year 2000 compliance changes of CAA's suppliers during live running. [32633]
§ Ms Glenda JacksonFor some equipment, National Air Traffic Services Ltd. (NATS) relies on external support and there are some cases where NATS, at this stage, is not adequately assured of completion. These suppliers are being urged to respond. Where such systems are identified as an on-going risk, a solution involving a method of working around the system or backing it up will be included in contingency plans.
Efforts are being made to gain assurance from suppliers that services can be relied upon. NATS aims to involve suppliers in validation tests, where that is feasible, in order to increase the level of confidence. Where there is a lack of assurance, there may be alternative sources of supply, but this may not always be the case. An example is telecommunications services—NATS uses several suppliers and it might be possible to change supplier over time. Contingency plans will be drawn up in full after the validation tests have been completed, when more will be known about the nature of the risks.
§ Mr. BrakeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what progress reports his Department has sought in respect of the CAA's millennium compliance; and if he will place these in the Library. [32720]
§ Ms Glenda JacksonOfficials in my Department first wrote to the Civil Aviation Authority on 14 March 1997 in pursuit of the Department-wide initiative to approach sponsored bodies about their work on resolving the millennium problem. Since then, my Department has contacted the Civil Aviation Authority and National Air Traffic Services (NATS) regularly to obtain progress reports and information on specific points. On each occasion, the Authority or NATS has sent a progress report or a position statement setting out how the work is progressing. In addition, officials are keeping in touch with the CAA Board in order to obtain regular overviews of how the work is progressing.
A memorandum by the CAA's Science and Technology Committee, entitled "Year 2000 and Computer Compliance Enquiry" (7 January 1998), and a copy of NATS' "millennium problem action plan" (26 February 1998) have been placed in the Library.
696W
§ Mr. BrakeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 21 January 1998,Official Report, column 553, when checking of (a) non-National Air Traffic Service and (b) National Air Traffic Service operational items for millennium compliance began; how many items in each category have been checked to date for year 2000 compliance; how many have been found to be year 2000 (i) compliant and (ii) non-compliant; how many of the items which are not year 2000 compliant have been fixed and satisfactorily tested; how many man days were required to complete and test these changes; when integration testing is to start; and what contingency plans have been made in the case of failure (1) to complete year 2000 compliance changes and (2) of the year 2000 compliance changes during live running. [32719]
§ Ms Glenda JacksonNational Air Traffic Services Ltd. (NATS) began initial study work to address the year 2000 compliance issue in April 1996.
A total of 582 operational in-service items have been checked, of which 483 have been found to be compliant; 99 items have been found to be non-compliant. Fixing and testing of the non-compliant items is expected to be completed by July 1998. The work to implement any necessary changes is not accounted for centrally. Systems are fixed and tested individually and are then reintegrated into operational service as part of the existing process for change implementation. A wider set of cross-system and cross-site year 2000 validation tests will then take place between September and December this year. Estimating the number of man days used to complete the changes would involve disproportionate cost.
Changes required to ensure year 2000 compliance are generally of a minor nature and there are none that it is considered will not be completed in time. Ways of working around the system would be developed in the event of non-compliance. The purpose of the validation testing exercise is to identify residual risk areas which will be fed into the development of operational contingency plans in the early part of 1999.
With regard to non-NATS systems, I would refer the hon. Member to the memorandum placed in the Library by the CAA's Science and Technology Committee (Year 2000 and Computer Compliance Inquiry, dated 7 January 1998).
§ Mr. BrakeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment the CAA has made of the year 2000 compliance of CAA suppliers which exchange data with the CAA electronically; and what independent assessment of the year 2000 compliance of CAA's suppliers will be conducted. [32632]
§ Ms Glenda JacksonThe process of identifying suppliers and dependencies in order to find out what plans they have to deal with this issue, to ask for evidence of progress and tests carried out, and to arrange for testing in conjunction with National Air Traffic Services' (NATS) systems at a suitable stage has been underway since 1996. These interfaces have been identified, and dialogue with suppliers is at an advanced stage.
NATS is currently planning an independent audit of its year 2000 activities which will take place later this year. The audit will also consider the adequacy of the compliance assurances that suppliers have provided.
697W
§ Mr. OttawayTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when(a) each of his Department's agencies and (b) the Government Offices for the Regions estimate their millennium compliance programmes will be completed. [32613]
§ Angela EagleThe estimates are provided in the latest returns released by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 3 March 1998,Official Report, columns 621–22, and placed in the libraries of both Houses and published on the Internet.
§ Mr. OttawayTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when(a) each of his Department's agencies and (b) the Government offices for the regions will have completed their examination of the available options for achieving millennium compliance. [32614]
§ Angela EagleFive of the Department's Agencies have completed their examination of the options for achieving millennium compliance, and the remainder aim to complete their examination by the end of April 1998. Within the Government Office for the Regions it is anticipated that the examination of the available options will be completed by June 1998.
§ Mr. OttawayTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what contingency plans have been made in the event of a failure due to Year 2000 computer problems for(a) each of his Department's agencies and (b) the Government offices for the regions. [32612]
§ Angela EagleThe position on contingency plans is included in the latest returns released by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 3 March 1998,Official Report, columns 621–22, and placed in the Libraries of both Houses and published on the Internet.
§ Mr. OttawayTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if IT contracts for millennium compliance for(a) each of his Department's agencies and (b) the Government offices for the regions will be put out to tender. [32610]
§ Angela EagleMost Agencies have existing contracts which will be used for millennium compliance. Where extra support is required this will be subject to competitive procurement procedures. The Government Office for the Regions will look to existing IT service suppliers to address millennium compliance issues.
§ Mrs. MayTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the millennium compliance of the data processing systems(a) at the London Air Traffic Control Centre and (b) due to be introduced at Swanwick Air Traffic Control Centre. [32726]
§ Ms Glenda JacksonNational Air Traffic Services (NATS) has been running a year 2000 project since 1996, and included within the scope of the project is the London Area and Terminal Control Centre and its supporting infrastructure. All in-service operational systems have been checked, and NATS is now in the middle of a comprehensive update programme to correct faults or replace sub-systems which might be affected by the millennium bug. NATS expects to be fully compliant by the end of 1998 and this timescale includes extensive testing at all levels of their systems.
698WYear 2000 compliance for the systems in the new centre at Swanwick is an essential part of NATS' overall programme. In conjunction with NATS' supplier, Lockheed Martin, NATS has conducted a full system assessment. A small number of minor corrections are required to the operational systems and some updates are required to the off-line support systems. All work in this area is included in the plan for readiness by the end of 1998.