To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what estimate he has made of public sector spending on information and communications technology for e-Government in each year since 2001, broken down by Government department; and what estimate he has made of the effects of e-Government on cost efficiency of departments.

The Cabinet Office does not collect information on individual departments' spending on e-Government. However recent research by Kable indicates that £14 billion per annum is spent on information technology (IT) across the public sector.

The Spending Review 2004 (SR04) reported that significant investment in information communication technology (ICT) in both central and local government is streamlining the delivery of services to the public, cutting transaction costs and reducing paperwork. Examples of efficiency gains can be found in the Spending Review, copies of which are available in the Library and at http://hm-Treasury.gov.uk/spending_review/spend__sr04/rep ort/spend_sr04_repindex.cfm