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, 9 November 2004. It was answered by Ruth Kelly (Labour) on Tuesday, 9 November 2004 on behalf of the Cabinet Office.

Cabinet Office

Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what percentage of the Department's (a) implemental 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 Minister for the Cabinet Office what percentage of the Department's (a) implemental and (b) planned computer systems use open source software; and what plans are in place to raise this level. [195644] Ruth Kelly: There are no statistics currently available on the percentage of open source software (OSS) used in or planned to be used in the Cabinet Office. The Cabinet Office follows the Government's OSS Policy (version 2 was published on the 28 October 2004), which requires that Government consider OSS solutions alongside proprietary ones in information technology procurements and awards contracts on a value for money basis. It does not therefore have plans in place to raise the level of OSS use, but rather will make software procurement decisions on a case by case basis.

Secondary information