Written question asked by Lord Grayling (Conservative) on Tuesday, 21 October 2003, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 30 October 2003. It was answered by Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour) on Thursday, 30 October 2003 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the cost of maintenance of the Integrated Care Records database in (a) 2003-04 and (b) 2004-05. - Including figures.

Answer: Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost of maintenance of the Integrated Care Records database in (a) 2003-04 and (b) 2004-05. [134283] Mr. Hutton: The integrated cafe records service (ICRS) is one element of the National Programme for Information Technology in the national health service. Central funding for the National Programme for IT in the NHS is to be made available from the Spending Review 2002 as follows--£370 million in 2003-04, £730 million in 2004-05 and £1.2 billion in 2005-06. The costs for the ICRS are being calculated as part of the on-going procurement and financial management processes within the Spending Review 2002 envelope. Maintenance costs are subject to current procurement negotiations.

Secondary information