§ Mr. SayeedTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list information technology contracts in her Department and its predecessors with a value of above £20 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. [146192]
§ Alun MichaelThe Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs was established as a new Department in June 2001. At its inception, the Department novated existing MAFF framework contracts set up in 1999 with three major suppliers, Fujitsu, Sema UK Ltd. and Sungard Sherwood Systems Group Ltd. who have provided consultants to work with in-house staff for system development. No single system has cost of more than £20 million.
The Rural Payments Agency signed a £35 million seven year contract with Accenture on 31 January 2003 for the development of systems to deliver payments to farmers and traders under the Common Agricultural Policy. The systems are still in the development phase and are scheduled to become operational during 2005, after which the contract allows for a period of support and maintenance.