To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what pay band his Department's Chief Information Officer (CIO) is employed; whether the CIO is employed on a fixed-term or permanent contract; and what the size is of the budget for which the CIO is responsible in the period 2009-10. (307564)

Christine Connelly (Director General and Chief Information Officer), is in senior civil service payband 3, and was employed on a permanent civil service contract. The overall budget for which the Chief Information Officer is responsible is, in total, £1,485.321 million in 2009-10. This includes those costs of the National Programme for Information Technology (NPfTT) in the national health service which are expected to be incurred in the 2009-10 financial year.