§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if she will make a statement about the selection process employed to choose the server engine for the 1901 Census on-line service. [38539]
§ Ms Rosie WintertonThe 1901 Census Online Service contract was awarded by the Public Record Office to QinetiQ Ltd., after a full competitive tendering exercise. QinetiQ and its sub-contractors selected the server engine based on robustness and scalability.
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what the ISP bandwidth of the 1901 Census website was at the time it was suspended; and what the planned ISP bandwidth is after the programme of enhancements has been completed. [38556]
§ Ms Rosie WintertonThe original ISP bandwidth was shared between the Census Online service and other BT Ignite customers. QinetiQ Ltd. advise that a dedicated bandwidth (currently configured at 20Mbit/sec plus burst capability) is now in place which will avoid interference with other ISP customers when the service is re-launched onto general Internet access.
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if all the errors detected in transcription during the checking of the computer transcriptions of the 1901 Census returns were corrected; and if she will make a statement. [38547]
§ Ms Rosie WintertonAll errors detected in transcription during the editing of the computer transcriptions of the 1901 Census returns were corrected. The Census online system provides a facility through which any undetected errors may be notified to QinetiQ and, following verification by the Public Record Office, changes will be applied to the database periodically.
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what proportion of the pages of the computerised transcriptions of the 1901 Census returns were checked for errors. [38546]
§ Ms Rosie WintertonThe Public Record Office and QinetiQ carried out independent quality assurance checks on a proportion of the electronic pages (images) on all reels of transcribed data. Each reel of data was subject to two checks. A 10 per cent. sample was checked for functionality and data integrity. If it was below the accuracy rate required it was reworked. A separate 2 per cent. sample of each reel was then checked for accuracy of transcription. If the reel failed this test, then the whole reel was checked. Out of 2,152 reels of data, 85 per cent. were subject to this full check.
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§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what was the budget allocated to cover the costs of checking the transcriptions onto computer of the 1901 Census returns. [38545]
§ Ms Rosie WintertonThe major proportion of the work of checking the transcriptions of the 1901 census returns was undertaken by the PRO. £350,000 was allocated by the PRO to quality assure the transcription process, with the remaining quality assurance costs being met by QinetiQ Ltd.
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what budget was allocated for the work of transcribing the 1901 Census returns on to computer. [38542]
§ Ms Rosie WintertonNo budget was allocated by the PRO for the work of transcribing the 1901 Census returns on to computer. The cost of transcription was met by QinetiQ Ltd under the terms of its contract. £350,000 was allocated by the PRO to quality assure the transcription process with the remaining quality assurance costs being met by QinetiQ Ltd.
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department who carried out the work of transcribing the 1901 Census reforms on to computer; how these people were selected; and if she will make a statement. [38542]
§ Ms Rosie WintertonThe QinetiQ Ltd team, including Enterprise and Supply Services (ESS), was formed in the initial stages of tendering for the 1901 Census project. The team was formed by QinetiQ from parties considered to be able to offer the best quality and value for money. ESS undertook the transcription of the 1901 Census returns. However to complete the transcription work to the standards and timescales required it became clear that additional resources needed to be employed. A proportion of this work was sub-contracted by ESS, after full competitive tendering, to commercial data input companies based in India, Sri Lanka (Hays Document Management) and in the UK (Atos Origin). All transcription was quality assessed by the Public Record Office and edited where appropriate regardless of where it had been transcribed.