To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much has been spent on (a) strategy and planning, (b) design and build, (c) hosting and infrastructure, (d) content provision and (e) testing and evaluation for his Department's websites in each of the last three years; and what budget has been allocated for such activities in 2009-10. (309906)

The Ministry of Justice costs for hosting the Department's websites across the years 2007-08 and 2008-09 and the budget allocation for 2009-10 are as follows:

These figures include the cost of website hosting and infrastructure for www.justice.gov.uk and a number of other internal and external web sites, services and applications. Costs cannot be separated out for the departmental website (justice.gov.uk) as the contract covers parts of the wider web estate of the Ministry. External expenditure on other aspects of non-ICT website support for www.justice.gov.uk including strategy and planning, design and build, content provision and testing and evaluation is included in the following figures.

Comparable figures are not available for 2007-08 because of organisational and accounting changes.

The expenditure year to date (to end of December 2009) is £71,728 and the Ministry does not expect to spend the full budget allocation.

As there is more use of the internet for Government services, we need to make information about the work of the Department more readily available to citizens and the media, enhancing transparency and accountability for what we do. All our internet users—who include legal practitioners, academics and researchers—are able to use the range of resources published on our website either to work more efficiently within the justice system or to engage with the Department's day-to-day work and to contribute to our published consultations on proposals for change. Investment in web services aims to enhance the user experience, providing easier access to MOJ information and services and delivering in a way that meets audience needs.