§ Mr. AllanTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the proportion of his Department's computer systems which will be millennium-compliant on 1 April 1999. [58890]
§ Mr. MandelsonOn current plans all of the Department's business critical computer systems will have been corrected, fully tested and put back into use by 1 April 1999. The target date for completion of work on non-business critical computer systems is the end of July 1999.
§ Mr. Ian BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many bug busters have completed their training and started work on the millennium date change problem; and what estimate he has made of the number that will be in place by(a) 1 January 1999, (b) 1 April 1999, (c) 1 July 1999, (d) 1 October 1999 and (e) 1 January 2000. [58983]
§ Mr. Mudie[holding answer 9 November 1998]: I have been asked to reply.
We expect 20,000 to have undertaken training as a result of our initiative in line with our target. Already 1,547 have completed or booked on to courses and we are actively encouraging small businesses to take up the place on offer.