Written question asked by David Lidington (Conservative) on Tuesday, 26 February 2002, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 13 March 2002. It was answered by Baroness Winterton of Doncaster (Labour) on Wednesday, 13 March 2002 on behalf of the Lord Chancellor's Department.

Lord Chancellors Dept

Question: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, who carried out the work of transcribing the 1901 Census reforms on to computer; how these people were selected; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: Mr. Lidington: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department who carried out the work of transcribing the 1901 Census reforms on to computer; how these people were selected; and if she will make a statement. [38541] Ms Rosie Winterton: The QinetiQ Ltd team, including Enterprise and Supply Services (ESS), was formed in the initial stages of tendering for the 1901 Census project. The team was formed by QinetiQ from parties considered to be able to offer the best quality and value for money. ESS undertook the transcription of the 1901 Census returns. However to complete the transcription work to the standards and timescales required it became clear that additional resources needed to be employed. A proportion of this work was sub-contracted by ESS, after full competitive tendering, to commercial data input companies based in India, Sri Lanka (Hays Document Management) and in the UK (Atos Origin). All transcription was quality assessed by the Public Record Office and edited where appropriate regardless of where it had been transcribed.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 38541; 381 c1174W;381 c1176W
Session: 2001-02
Subjects: Contracts Databases Census Data processing ICT Internet Public records Public Record Office
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk