§ Mr. FlightTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much the latest overhaul of the HM Treasury website cost; and what the breakdown of spending on the website has been in each year since 1997. [18307]
§ Ruth KellyHM Treasury's new website was launched in November this year and replaces the site originally launched in 1994, which was struggling to cope with the levels of traffic it attracted on Budget day.
The new site is designed to cope with the growing demands being placed upon the Treasury's website, to offer a better service to the public, and to ensure that the Treasury is prepared for future technological developments.
On PBR day the new site was accessed by 20,000 visitors who between them downloaded 183,250 separate documents. This represents a 50 per cent, growth in the number of recorded visitors to the site compared with Budget 2001. There were no reports of anyone being unable to access the site.
This new, more robust site employs completely new computer hardware and software so that it can handle both the tens of thousands of visitors that it receives on Budget day and the increasing number of Treasury documents being made available on the site. The latest version of the site includes new services, such as a comprehensive search facility. It is also designed to cope with emergent technologies, such as mobile internet devices and digital television.
The total cost of launching the new site was £240,595. This included the costs of purchasing new computer hardware and software, software development and integration, and web page design.
This is the first capital expenditure by the Treasury on the www.hm-treasury.gov.uk site since it was launched in 1994.
This investment is intended to ensure that the Treasury is ready to meet its current and future information obligations.