§ Mr. PlaskittTo ask the President of the Council, pursuant to her oral statement to the House of 20 January 2000,Official Report, columns 975–77, if she will report on the immediate impact of the Millennium Bug on central Government Departments and Agencies. [111880]
§ Mrs. BeckettI am pleased to update Members with the results of the detailed monitoring exercise on the impact of the Millennium Bug on central Government Departments and Agencies. Copies of the completed questionnaires have been placed in the Libraries of the House and published on the internet, as has been the Government's practice. This report follows on from my statement to the House on Thursday 20 January.
I can confirm that—as predicted—it continues to be business as usual across Central Government. Twenty-seven Departments and Agencies logged 82 Millennium Bug related incidents over the new year period. Almost all the incidents were assessed as having a low or very low impact, principally because either the problems were fixed before the return to work on 4 and 5 January or because the errors were very minor, such as incorrectly dated reports.
136WThere is no doubt this work on meeting the threat of the Millennium Bug had to be undertaken. The Bug was shown to have the capacity to wreak havoc among services, which, though essential, we take for granted. The Government's objective in that work was always to ensure that the Bug resulted in no material disruption to essential services. That objective has been achieved.
The Government will continue to lead by example and be open and transparent. I will report back to the House in March on the impact of the leap year date change on Central Government, which is expected to be low. This will be followed by a more detailed report on lessons learned and benefits captured.