Computer Office
(Computer Officer: J O'Meara)
1 Purpose
The Office provides the necessary support and expertise
to enable the House, its members and staff to take full advantage
of Information Technology in discharging their functions. The
Office supports the development of strategic approaches to allow
full exploitation of technological advances.
2 Organisation
The Computer Office has a staff of 7: a Computer
Officer, a Computer Development Manager, a Computer Services Manager,
three Executive Officers (for Lords and staff training and for
computer support) and a Computer Assistant. Three staff changes
have occurred during the year.
3 Activities and Financial Performance
Some of the main developments in which the Office
was involved are described in Part I (paragraphs 59 to 63). Access
to the Internet, the Parliamentary Intranet and electronic mail
services remain the most popular facilities on the Parliamentary
Data and Video Network (PDVN). The improvements in access to CD-Rom
databases introduced during the previous year proved useful.
Demand for connection to the network has remained
high and 91 new PCs were supplied on loan to peers during the
year, of which 17 were replacements for old models and 74 were
for new users. Sixty-two individual training sessions were conducted
with peers. A total of 584 calls for support from peers and staff
were also dealt with during the year.
The contract for maintenance of computer hardware
was put out to tender during the year. The contract was awarded
to the existing supplier at a considerably reduced cost.
Original budget provision was £1,150,000
(£1,121,000 in 1998-99), subsequently increased by a
supplementary estimate to £1,320,000. Out-turn expenditure
was £1,319,493 (£1,241,746 in 1998-99). This
included a contribution of £826,749 (£696,000 in 1998-99)
to the Parliamentary Communications Directorate (PCD) for the
PDVN. Additional expenditure arose from moves towards IT convergence
and installation of the new network infrastructure. In addition,
expenditure on PCs loaned to peers was 5% in excess of the budget.
4 Future Activities
- The benefits of an in-house trainer for staff
were not fully realised, due to staff turnover. An appointment
has now been made and the benefits will be felt in the new year.
- Projects to increase the use of electronic document
management and introduce electronic records management were initiated
and will continue during 2000-01. The procurement of a digital
recording system for Hansard will be concluded in the autumn of
2000, following installation of the new equipment during the summer
recess.
- The development of information systems for Parliament
is under review. The House of Lords is actively involved in shaping
the future use of technology and information systems in Parliament.
- The Computer Office will work with the PCD to
review and update the Service Agreement for support and management
of the PDVN and file servers.