HC Deb 18 July 2003 vol 409 cc667-8W
Mr. Flight

To ask the Solicitor-General how many outsourced IT contracts have been signed by her 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 she will make a statement. [126210]

The Solicitor-General

The information requested is as follows.

Crown Prosecution Service

The Compass contract was awarded to LogicaCMG (formerly Logica UK Limited) on 31 December 2001 under a Private Finance Initiative procurement to provide a fully managed IT service to the Crown Prosecution Service. The Compass contract is for 10 years with the option of extending it for a further 5 years. Over 10 years the cost is currently estimated to be £275 million. This is subject to change as user numbers change and/or additional facilities are required. There has been no renegotiation of the contract.

Serious Fraud Office and Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers

There is one material contract relating to "Outsourced IT contracts" for the provision of IT support services. This contract is with IBM and originated as a comprehensive, PFI outsourcing in 1998. It was re-negotiated at end 2000 as a fixed-price, support agreement, subject to an inflation-related annual increase. The value of the agreement is affected by privity of contract but it has been considered to offer sufficient value for money that it was subsequently extended to provide support for the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers. IBM charges the Serious Fraud Office for this extension and the Serious Fraud Office recharges to the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers. Prior to 1998 IT was supported in-house both at the Serious Fraud Office and the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers.

HM Crown Prosecution Service

Since its inception in October 2000, HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate has relied on the Crown Prosecution Service for the provision of its IT services. However, it used separate one-off contracts with commercial suppliers for the initial design and continuous improvement of its website. In 2002 this contract work totalled £5,000.

The design of the website is such that the majority of maintenance work can be conducted in-house. Any specific improvements, or work beyond the in-house capability would be subject to the awarding of separate contracts.

HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate has budgeted for a maximum cost per annum of £5,000 for both this work and the hosting of the website.

Treasury Solicitor's Department

Since 1997, the Treasury Solicitor's Department has entered into no contracts where an external organisation delivers and operates IT service on the Department's behalf. The Department's in-house Information Services team provides the IT services for the Department, generally using commercially available software, supported by contractors where necessary.