HC Deb 25 February 2003 vol 400 cc453-4W
Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to her answer of 11 February 2003,Official Report, column

contracts in her Department and its predecessors above £50 million in each of the last 10 years; what the inception date for each system was; when it became fully functional; when it became fully debugged; and what the cost of over-runs has been. [99008]

Alun Michael

Defra has not let any new IT contracts with a whole-life cost above £50 million since it was established as a new Department in June 2001.

Information covering earlier periods, or for Defra's Executive Agencies and NDPBs, is not readily available and could be constructed retrospectively only at disproportionate cost.