Written question asked by Brian White (Labour) on Friday, 29 October 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 16 November 2004. It was answered by Anne McGuire (Labour) on Tuesday, 16 November 2004 on behalf of the Scotland Office.

Scotland Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what percentage of the Department's (a) implemented and (b) planned computer systems use open source software; and what plans are in place to raise this level.

Answer: Brian White: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of the Department's (a) implemented and (b) planned computer systems use open source software; and what plans are in place to raise this level. [195664] Mrs. McGuire: The Scotland Office has no Open Source Software (OSS) systems in operation at present. The procurement of software solutions follows the `level playing field' Government OSS Policy. This does not require the raising of levels of OSS usage in Government, rather that Government considers OSS solutions alongside proprietary ones in IT procurements; and that contracts should be awarded on a value for money, case-by-case basis. Version 2 of this policy was published on 28 October 2004 and can be viewed at www.govtalk.gov.uk

Secondary information