§ Mr. FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many local authorities had installed remote access terminals(a) on the most recent date for which he has information and (b) at the end of March 1999. [104657]
§ Angela EagleBy the 1 December 1999, when the Departmental 'Millennium Operating Regime' limiting IT development around the year 2000 came into effect, there were 349 Local Authorities (LAs) with 368 Remote Access Terminals (RATs). The comparable figure for March 1999 was 336 LAs with 362 RATs. We expect 393 LAs to have at least one RAT by the end of March 2000.
334WWe have recently invited those LAs that have still not applied for a RAT to do so as they provide LAs with on-line access to benefit data held by the Benefits Agency that are needed to administer Housing and Council Tax benefits efficiently.