HC Deb 17 July 2003 vol 409 c646W
Mr. Flight

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many outsourced IT contracts have been signed by his Department in each year since 1997; how much each of these contracts is worth; with whom they are signed; how many have been renegotiated; how many are still in place; and if he will make a statement. [126193]

Mr. Hutton

All contracts are signed on behalf of the Secretary of State for Health. Contracts signed since 1997 mainly for use within the Department of Health are:

  • Information Management Services (IMS2); and
  • Hospital Episode Statistics (HES).

The Infrastructure Management Services contract (IMS2) covers support of the Department of Health's information technology infrastructure, desktop computers, telecommunications and video conferencing facilities and procurement of IT hardware and software. The contract is with the Computer Sciences Corporation. The contract was signed in June 2002 for a period of seven years, and is worth £70 million over the life of the contract.

The Hospital Episode Statistics contract (HES) covers data input, data management, tabulation and extract functions for the hospital episode data collection system. The contract is with Hays Redfern, and was signed in December 2001 for a period of five years. The contract is worth £7 million over the life of the contract.

No renegotiations have taken place, as both contracts have been in existence for less than two years.