Written question asked by Geoffrey Hoon (Labour), in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 28 November 1996. It was answered by Jeremy Hanley (Conservative) on Thursday, 28 November 1996 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Question: How many lines of computer code there are in his Department's computer systems. - Includes estimated figure and that most of my Department's computer code is contained in commercially obtained software applications, operated under licence. The number of lines of such code is known only to suppliers.

Answer: Mr. Hoon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many lines of computer code there are in his Department's computer systems. [5523] Mr. Hanley: Most of my Department's computer code is contained in commercially obtained software applications, operated under licence. The number of lines of such code is known only to suppliers. We estimate that our bespoke software contains up to 10 million lines of code. We are analysing this to determine how much will be affected by the century date change, and the cost involved.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 5523; 286 c342W
Session: 1996-97
Subjects: Software Computers Government departments Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Contains statistics: Yes