PICT Projects (2013)

The request was successful.

Dear House of Commons,

Please find below some questions on the Procedural Business Programme run by PICT. They are broadly in line with my previous request on the predecessor work, the Procedural Data Programme (see https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/p... for your previous answers, including document references).

Procedural Business Programme

Can you please provide copies of:

1) the business case approved to allow the Procedural Business Programme project as a whole to begin
a) the name of the committee(s) that agreed to such, and the dates of those meetings (it need only be sufficient to identify the public minutes/papers published on the relevant Parliament websites)
b) Any business case or delivery forecast for the first year/phase of PBP work
c) All status reports and project updates that have been provided to the PBP board, or PICT Advisory Board, about progress on the project

2) The date of the next gateway review of the Procedural Business Programme

3) Staffing:
a) How many staff currently work on the project as of 1st September 2013,
b) how many of those in (a) transferred from the Procedural Data Programme,
c) how many of those in (a) worked on the PBP on 1st June 2013 (ie, roughly halfway between the start of the project and the time of the request)
d) the number of vacancies advertised for the PBP which were readvertisement of a post left unfilled .

The final 2 questions below relate to the period before the Procedural Business Progamme commenced, and are for the similarly named Procedural Data Programme:

4) A copy of the Gateway review for the Procedural Data Programme, conducted in February 2013, which had "a technical focus" (as referred to in PDP Programme Summary Report for March 2013: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/1... )

5) What is the total cost of Hansard Reporting Suite/System replacement project (aka HRS2) and when it will be delivered?
a) A copy of all summary reports to PICTAB (or equivalent) covering the HRS2 project between 31 March 2013 and 1st September 2013.
b) if there is another successor project to HRS2, the name of that project, and the equivalent documents to those in 5a.
c) the summary report of acceptance testing for HRS2 (if such testing has been done)

Yours faithfully,

S Smith

FOICOMMONS, House of Commons

Dear S Smith,

 

Thank you for your request for information dated 13 September 2013,
received by us on the same date.

 

We will endeavour to respond to your request promptly but in any case
within 20 working days i.e. on or before 11 October 2013.

 

If you have any queries about your request, please use the request number
quoted in the subject line of this email.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Arianne

 

Arianne Kitchener | IRIS Manager
Information Rights and Information Security (IRIS) Service | House of
Commons

 

 

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FOICOMMONS, House of Commons

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FOICOMMONS, House of Commons

7 Attachments

Dear S Smith,

 

Freedom of Information Request F13-452

 

Thank you for your request for information copied below. 

 

We have previously provided a response to your request however an error
was identified in the redactions to the documents we sent. We are
therefore resending this with corrected redactions which reveal additional
information and apologise for any inconvenience caused. 

 

You asked a number of questions about the Procedural Business Programme. 
We have sought to answer your questions in turn below.

 

To clarify your request, the Procedural Data Programme (PDP) was a
four-year programme that began in April 2009 and closed in March 2013. 
The Parliamentary Business Programme (PBP) formally began in April 2013
and is a rolling programme of investment.  This question is understood to
refer to the Parliamentary Business Programme. 

 

1) Can you please provide copies of the business case approved to allow
the Procedural Business Programme project as a whole to begin

a) the name of the committee(s) that agreed to such, and the dates of
those meetings (it need only be sufficient to identify the public
minutes/papers published on the relevant Parliament websites)

 

The funding for the Parliamentary Business Programme forms one strand of
the total ICT investment portfolio for Parliament for 2013-14. 
Responsibility for overall approval of the portfolio lies with the PICT
Advisory Board, which met on 15 October 2012 to agree the balance of the
programmes within the portfolio.

 

b) Any business case or delivery forecast for the first year/phase of PBP
work

 

The Parliamentary Business Programme business case for funding in 2013-14
is attached. This document provides details of the case and the delivery
forecast for the current financial year.

 

A number of redactions have been made to the text for the following
reasons:

 

Personal Data

Except for the names of senior staff, personal data is exempt by virtue of
section 40 (2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the exemption for
personal information), as disclosure of this information to the public
generally, in the House’s view, would not be consistent with data
protection principles in the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA). This is an
absolute exemption and the public interest test does not apply.

 

Security

This information is exempt by virtue of section 31(1)(a) of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (law enforcement).  The Houses consider that
releasing the information would be likely to prejudice the prevention or
detection of crime.

This is a qualified or non-absolute exemption and the public interest test
applies. 

In favour of disclosure is the argument of transparency in the spending of
public money, money being used effectively and public authorities getting
value for money.

However, this is outweighed by the risks of criminal activity being
undertaken if the information was provided.  In providing details of our
provider the Houses of Parliament would fail in its duty to help prevent
criminal attacks on our network which in turn would fail in our duty to
assist those services providing us with law enforcement.

 

The information you require is further exempt by virtue of section 24(1)
of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the exemption for national
security).

This is a qualified or non-absolute exemption and the public interest test
applies. The public interest in transparency in the spending of public
money, in public money being used effectively and public authorities
getting value for money has been considered. 

However, whilst there may be a public interest in access to this
information, it is considered that in this case it is not in the wider
public interest to disclose as there is a risk of national security being
compromised.  Owing to the nature of information contained within the
parliamentary network, disclosure of details of the web filtering service
provider, including confirmation or denial of inference, may assist the
design of encourage attacks against the network, jeopardising the security
of information which is likely to impact on national security.

 

c) All status reports and project updates that have been provided to the
PBP board, or PICT Advisory Board, about progress on the project

 

The PBP Programme Summary Reports for the months of April, May, June, July
and August are attached.  These are submitted to the PICT Programme
Monitoring Board and the PICT Advisory Board.

 

With the exception of senior staff names which are already published,
names of individuals contained within the report have been redacted.

This information is exempt by virtue of section 40 (2) of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (the exemption for personal information), as
disclosure of this information to the public generally, in the House’s
view, would not be consistent with data protection principles in the Data
Protection Act 1998 (DPA). This is an absolute exemption and the public
interest test does not apply.

 

2) The date of the next gateway review of the Procedural Business
Programme

 

A Gateway Review for the PBP is scheduled for 10-12 February 2014.

 

3) PBP Staffing:

a) How many staff currently work on the project as of 1st September 2013,

 

As of 1 September, the PBP had a team of 9 programme staff and a
development team of 12, making a total of 21.

 

b) how many of those in (a) transferred from the Procedural Data
Programme,

 

Of the 21 people in the team on 1 September, a total of 12 had transferred
from the PDP when it closed at the end of March 2013.

 

c) how many of those in (a) worked on the PBP on 1st June 2013 (ie,
roughly halfway between the start of the project and the time of the
request)

 

Of the 21 staff who were working on the programme as of 1 September 2013,
12 were working on the programme on 1 June.

 

d) the number of vacancies advertised for the PBP which were
re-advertisement of a post left unfilled.

 

There have been no vacancies advertised for the PBP which were
re-advertisements of posts left unfilled.  Some staff have left the
programme and replacements have been recruited.

 

4) A copy of the Gateway review for the Procedural Data Programme,
conducted in February 2013, which had "a technical focus" (as referred to
in PDP Programme Summary Report for March 2013:
[1]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/1...
)

 

Please find attached the information you require.

 

With the exception of senior staff names which are already published,
names of individuals contained within the reports have been redacted.

This information is exempt by virtue of section 40 (2) of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (the exemption for personal information), as
disclosure of this information to the public generally, in the House’s
view, would not be consistent with data protection principles in the Data
Protection Act 1998 (DPA). This is an absolute exemption and the public
interest test does not apply.

 

5) What is the total cost of Hansard Reporting Suite/System replacement
project (aka HRS2) and when it will be delivered?

 

Funding for the HRS2 project came from the overall Procedural Data
Programme budget. No funding breakdown exists at a project level for the
HRS2 project, but the overall spend for the PDP and its constituent
projects over four years was £7.9 million. In addition, there were three
months of development on the HRS2 project from April 2013-14, which drew
on funds from the Parliamentary Business Programme.  The PBP’s budget for
2013-14 is £1.7 million.

 

a)  A copy of all summary reports to PICTAB (or equivalent) covering the
HRS2 project between 31 March 2013 and 1st September 2013.

 

The HRS2 project was reported on as part of the overall PBP Programme
Summary Report. These are provided in response to Question 1 above.

 

b)  if there is another successor project to HRS2, the name of that
project, and the equivalent documents to those in 5a.

 

The HRS2 project is currently in the process of being formally closed.  No
new project has yet been started. 

 

c) the summary report of acceptance testing for HRS2 (if such testing has
been done)

 

This information is not held by the House of Commons.  The HRS2 project is
in the process of being closed following the decision to halt development
of the new application.  Acceptance testing of the new application had not
been completed at the point of closure.

 

You may, if dissatisfied with the handling of your request, ask the House
of Commons to conduct an internal review of any decision regarding your
request. Requests for internal review should be addressed to: Freedom of
Information Officer, Department of HR and Change, House of Commons London
SW1 0AA or [2][House of Commons request email]. Please ensure that you specify the
full reasons for the internal review and any arguments or points that you
wish to make.

 

If you remain dissatisfied, you may appeal to the Information Commissioner
at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF,
[3]www.ico.gov.uk.

 

Your sincerely,

 

Arianne

 

Arianne Kitchener | IRIS Manager
Information Rights and Information Security (IRIS) Service | House of
Commons

 

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