Written question asked by Ian Gibson (Labour) on Monday, 19 June 2000, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 3 July 2000. It was answered by Lord Spellar (Labour) on Monday, 3 July 2000 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Ministry of Defence

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, What assessment he has made concerning the level of computer failures in his Department, its agencies and the armed forces. (Failed OPQ).

Answer: Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made concerning the level of computer failures in his Department, its agencies and the armed forces. [127275] Mr. Spellar: The Ministry of Defence does not keep central records of non-critical computer systems as it would be uneconomic to do so. However, no operation has been curtailed due to a computer system failure in the last year. The Ministry of Defence regularly assesses the criticality of all its computer systems. Based on these assessments there are contingency plans in place to ensure vital functions are provided with an alternate means of processing the data in the event of a computer failure.

Secondary information