§ Mr. Clifton-BrownTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will list each major new computer system that(a) her Department, (b) non-departmental bodies and (c) agencies under her 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. [27849]
§ Mrs. BeckettThe information requested on major computer systems installed within the last 5 years is set out in the table. Major Computer Systems installed by the Department's next step Agencies, with the exception of the Insolvency Service and ETS, are not included, and I have asked them to respond direct to the hon. Member. The table also excludes privately financed projects where the installation/purchase costs of the IT systems will be recovered by suppliers through service charges.
481W
Name Initial cost (£) Final cost (£) Scheduled date Actual date Gas Consumers Council FileServer Replacement project 207,000 207,000 February 1995 February 1995 Workstation Replacement project 135,000 135,000 October 1995 October 1995 Complaints System 123,000 123,000 April 1996 April 1996 Workstation Update project 133,000 133,000 August 1998 n/a Letter from John Holden to Mr. Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, dated 31 March 1998:
I have been asked to reply to your question to the President of the Board of Trade concerning major new computer systems purchased over the past 5 years.
Major systems in last 5 years purchased by Companies House Estimated purchase cost (£000) Final purchase cost or cost to date if on-going (£000) Estimated expenditure for 1998/99 (£000) for on-going or new Estimated commission date Actual commission date Latest revised date if on-going Document Processing 1,167 1,287 — 03/01/95 27/02/95 — Terminal Systems 207 205 — 02/06/95 28/07/95 — Accounts Image 1,403 1,430 — 28/02/98 Still on-going March 1998 Companies House Direct 1,334 1,176 — 30/06/97 29/09/97 — Customer Accounts 216 219 — 01/08/97 29/09/97 — Doc Proc Enhancement 168 186 — 04/04/97 20/01/98 — Office Systems Stage 1 529 513 — 31/12/97 Still on-going 30/04/98 Input Systems/Electronic Filing 250 95 70 30/04/98 Still on-going 30/06/98 Input Systems/ICR 690 0 390 30/09/98 Still on-going 30/09/98 Input Systems/Workflow Information not required 430 No further information requested for systems purchased in 1998/99 Office Systems Stage 2 400 Search Room Development 500 Agency Accounts 300 Wider Image 1,770 Data Distribution 270 Note:
In-house development staff costs excluded from all figures shown.
Letter from Jim Norton to Mr. Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, dated 31 March 1998:
The President of the Board of Trade has asked me to reply directly to your Parliamentary Question about the purchase of computer systems.For the purpose of this reply we have interpreted "major new computer systems" as those costing over £200,000. The information you requested, in respect of computer systems purchased by the Radiocommunications Agency in the last 5 years, is shown in the enclosed table.
Radiocommunications Agency Information on major new computer systems £ ALPACA Outstations Networking Estimated cost 2,165,000 849,059 Actual cost 3,328,000 874,059 Planned commissioning date October 1996 March 1994 Actual commissioning date March 1999 March 1994 Notes:
1. ALPACA is the Accounts, Ledgers, Purchasing and Cost Attribution System.
2. The data for ALPACA for actual cost and actual commissioning date are the latest forecasts.
3. The disparity between the planned and latest forecasts for ALPACA is the result of a major change in the scope of the project.
4. Outstations Networking was a turnkey project with ICL to install a Local Area Network between the Radiocommunications HQ, Baldock, Whyteleaf and the other Regional Offices.
482WThe information you require is shown on the attached table.
Letter from P. R. S. Harmack to Mr. Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, dated 31 March 1998:
I am replying for the Patent Office to your Parliamentary Question to the President of the Board of Trade about the cost and timing of major new computer systems.The information you seek is given in the attached table.
The Patent Office Major computer systems purchased System Planned cost1 (£000) Final cost1 (£000) Planned date of commissioning Actual date of commissioning CUES 295 354 March 1996 October 1996 DARE 437 490 May 1996 May 1997 TERN 974 1,028 November 1996 January 1997 DRIMS 443 2— May 1998 2— ISSP 642 2— May 1998 2— IBIS 2,123 2— January 1999 2— 1 The costs include both the purchase cost from the external supplier plus the in-house staff costs associated with implementing the systems. 2 Not yet commissioned. Notes:
CUES—On-line customer enquiry system for patent, trade mark and design status.
DARE—Database of European classified patent search files.
TERN—Trade Mark examination reporting system.
DRIMS—Designs registry image management system.
ISSP—Intranet search system for patent information.
IBIS—Integrated bibliographic and image system for trade marks.
483WLetter from Dr. Seton Bennett to Mr. Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, dated 31 March 1998:
The President of the Board of Trade has asked me to reply on behalf of the National Weights and Measures Laboratory to your question about the purchase of major computer systems.This Agency has not purchased any major computer system in the last five years and we have no plans for any major expenditure on systems during 1998/99.