Millennium Bug (Hansard, 20 April 1999)

§ Lord McIntosh of Haringey

The public should look principally to goods and services providers for advice about the likely effect of the date change on supply. The Government and Action 2000 are encouraging organisations to communicate with their customers. For instance, the British Bankers Association, APACS and the Building Societies Association have published (on 5 March)Your Money and the Millennium, reassuring customers that cash machines will work and that there will be ample supplies of bank notes, so that customers do not need to hoard them.

There is a role for the Government in bringing together basic information so that the public can have an overall picture of the likely impact of the Bug on their daily lives. In October 1998 Action 2000 published Homecheck: this provided practical advice about the impact of the Bug on domestic appliances and PCs. The Government will build on this with the issue of further information, beginning in the late spring, supported by limited TV and press advertising. This will cost around £5 million. The information will also be available from the Action 2000 Actionline and on its website.

The information programme will be underpinned by market research tracking changes in public perception of the Millennium Bug, particularly among key sub-groups like the elderly. The first results from this market research are being placed in the Libraries of the House and published on the Internet today.

Action 2000 will continue to release information through the National Infrastructure Forum about the independent assessment of the readiness to meet the date change of providers of critical public services. It will also encourage them to communicate these messages to their customers. Action 2000 will be using press advertising to give this important information maximum publicity. This will cost some £2 million.