To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects the Valuation Office Agency's new geographic information system to become operational; and what his most recent estimate is of the (a) set-up and (b) annual running costs of the system. (270433)

The Valuation Office Agency's (VOA) Geographic Information System (GIS) is designed to provide more accurate valuations, improving the service the VOA provides.

The GIS is expected to be operational in January 2010, and is estimated to involve set-up costs of £2,460,000, and annual running costs of £840,000.