To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many contracts let by his Department in the last 12 months were related to the immigration casework database; and what the monetary value was of each such contract. (290905)

[holding answer 9 September 2009]: The Immigration Case Work programme stems from the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) review in 2006, which identified that the business has had to operate with systems that were not designed to cope with the scale of change and business volumes experienced in recent years.

The programme’s vision is to deliver a new immigration case working capability that will enable the UK Border Agency to operate with the levels of efficiency and service found in leading case working organisations. This will be achieved by delivering radical changes to business processes and improvements to the enabling IT systems. The programme has adopted recognised leading practice by scheduling the development and roll-out of the new systems over time; from the first pilot release in March 2009 to replacement of the legacy systems for protection in 2013 (as discussed with the Committee for Public Accounts earlier this year). The phased approach also ensures that the Agency can afford to fund the programme as part of its business plan. The programme is within budget.

In the last 12 months, the following contracts with their monetary values were let in relation to the new immigration casework database, Integrity.

Notes:

1. The following figures only cover IT contracts awarded by ICW, excluding contractors and consultants.

2. The monetary values exclude VAT.

In addition, a number of contracts have been let in the last 12 months in respect of changes made to the FCO Proviso system as part of the roll out of the Integrity solution. These are as follows: