Written question asked by Brian White (Labour) on Tuesday, 9 July 2002, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 14 October 2002. It was answered by Baroness Hughes of Stretford (Labour) on Monday, 14 October 2002 on behalf of the Home Office.

Home Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what his policy is towards using open source software; and what percentage is used in his Department.

Answer: Brian White: :To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his policy is towards using open source software; and what percentage is used in his Department. [69316] Beverley Hughes: :The choice of software to meet the business needs of the Home Office now largely rests with its strategic ISIT suppliers who are contracted, largely under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI), to meet business requirements and provide value for money solutions, including the consideration of open source solutions. In the main, the Home Office no longer chooses specific software. Within our business requirements the Home Office ensure that any technical choices should meet relevant government software standards and provide for interoperability with our public and business partners. The Home Office supports and will respond where appropriate to Office of Government Commerce competition initiatives which encourage the availability of choice in the software marketplace. The Government's policy for Open Source Software was published in July 2002 and is available at the following web address http://www.govtalk.gov.uk Current suppliers to the Home Office are not known to extensively use, or have plans for implementing, open source software. None of the major non-PFI delivered projects utilise open source software.

Secondary information