§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will make a statement on preparations to tackle the millennium bug problem in(a) police forces and (b) fire services; [86172]
90W(2) what assessment he has made of millennium bug preparations in (a) the police forces and emergency services of (i) Avon and Somerset, (ii) Devon and Cornwall, (iii) Cheshire, (iv) Hampshire, (v) Metropolitan London, (vi) Warwickshire and (vii) Sussex and (b) the National Criminal Intelligence Service. [86240]
§ Mr. StrawHer Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Her Majesty's Fire Services Inspectorate have carried out independent assessments of the millennium readiness of all police forces and fire brigades in England and Wales, using the colour coding method defined by Action 2000. Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary assessment also covers the National Criminal Intelligence Service. Under this method, 'red' means there is a severe risk of material disruption, 'amber' means there is some risk of material disruption but an agreed rectification plan exists, and 'blue' means there are no identified risks of material disruption. The status of all forces and brigades, assessed according to this method, will be made public at the National Infrastructure Forum on 13 July. The aim is that by that date, no forces or brigades will be 'red', and by September, all will be 'blue'.
The NHS Executive has assessed the readiness of all NHS bodies, including NHS Ambulance Trusts, on a regular basis since June 1998. Aggregated figures are published on a quarterly basis, and the individual monitoring returns from each organisation are also published on the Internet. The latest returns at 31 March 1999 were published on 21 May. An up-to-date assessment of the status of all individual NHS organisations, including NHS Ambulance Trusts, will be made public at the National Infrastructure Forum on 13 July.