HC Deb 18 July 2003 vol 409 cc746-7W
Mr. Flight

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 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. [126204]

Mr. Charles Clarke

The Department for Education and Skills has entered into two outsourced IT contracts since 1997.

The first was with Xansa UK Plc (formerly FI Group) for the delivery of the applications development and support services to the Department and ran for a period of 5 years from 1 April 1997. Spend over the period of the contract was £41.5 million.

The contract to deliver these services for a period of 5 years from 1 April 2002 was awarded to Cap Gemini Ernst & Young UK Plc following a re-competition. The level of spend over the period of this contract will largely be determined by demand. Spend in the first 12 months was £16 million.