Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many IT systems which his Department uses are more than (a) three, (b) five and (c) eight years old; and what steps he is taking to ensure that all his Department's IT systems are updated promptly.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy uses a number of IT systems. Records of the age of these are not kept. Work to ensure key departmental IT systems are refreshed, updated and maintained is taken forward on an ongoing basis. There are therefore no systems in use that remain in their original installation state.

Independent, specialist checks of key IT systems are undertaken at least annually to check they have been updated and any previously identified issues have been addressed. These checks supplement routine proactive checks undertaken internally through established service management practices.