§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the IT developments within the Prison Service completed in the past two years; what developments are in production stage; and what his priorities are for development over the next five years. [81214]
§ Hilary BennThe Prison Service outsourced its IT with effect from 1 July 2000. A major infrastructure upgrade is under way that will for the first time give the Prison Service a modern, networked IT system and provide 18,600 personal computers at over 170 sites in England and Wales. By early November 2002, implementation was about 50 per cent. complete and work is well under way at remaining sites. Completion is on target for 31 March 2003.
61WIn addition, the development and rollout of the Offender Assessment System (OASys) will enable the electronic exchange of information between the Prison and Probation Services and the electronic completion of documents that assist with offender risk assessments and the provision of information on reoffending and the risk of harm to others. This is on target to go live progressively from April 2003.
62WPriorities for development over the next three years will be agreed later this year. The main projects which are likely to be developed over the next five years are:
a system to improve occupancy at establishments through the provision of accurate and up to date accommodation information;a comprehensive replacement of the system for managing prisoner information; andnew finance and management information systems.