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THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 1993
SECRETARY FOR THE TREASURY: (SI)
EVERY YEAR, IN REAL TERMS, OUR EXPENDITURE IS NOT CALCULATED ON AN ANNUAL BASIS, AS MOST ACCOUNTANTS WILL SAY, WE TAKE INTO ACCOUNT A FEW YEARS AND WE LOOK AT THE AMOUNT WE PLAN TO SPEND AND THE AMOUNT WE ACTUALLY SPEND. NOW IF YOU LOOK AT "APPENDIX A" OF THE BUDGET, YOU WILL SEE THAT FOR OUR ANNUAL EXPENDITURE AND THE EXPECTED EXPENDITURE, THEY ARE IN STEP WITH ONE ANOTHER, ESPECIALLY WITH REGARD TO RECURRENT EXPENDITURE. PLEASE REFER TO PAGE NINE AND YOU WILL KNOW. SOMETIMES, OR IN FACT IN ONE YEAR, IT EXCEEDED THE FIGURE BY FIVE PER CENT, BECAUSE FOR CAPITAL EXPENDITURE FOR ONE OR TWO CONSECUTIVE YEARS THERE WAS UNDER-SPENDING AND WE WANT TO MAKE UP FOR THE MONEY WHICH HAS NOT BEEN SPENT, AND THAT IS WHY FOR CAPITAL EXPENDITURE THE AMOUNT MAY BE LARGER. BUT AS THE FS HAS POINTED OUT, WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT IS THAT THERE SHOULD BE GOOD CONTROL OR SOUND CONTROL OVER RECURRENT EXPENDITURE. NOW FOR CAPITAL EXPENDITURE, IT IS DIFFERENT FROM RECURRENT EXPENDITURE, AND FOR CAPITAL EXPENDITURE THERE ARE FLUCTUATIONS FROM YEAR TO YEAR, IT IS NOT THAT EASY TO CONTROL.
QUESTION:
I WANTED TO ASK ABOUT THE COMPUTER SYSTEM THAT I ASKED ABOUT YESTERDAY, HOW SOON IT WILL BE UP AND RUNNING, THE ONE THAT IS GOING TO LINK THE DIFFERENT PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENTS, AND HOW SOON IT CAN START ENSURING THAT WHAT IS ALLOCATED IS SPENT?
SECRETARY FOR WORKS:
IF I MIGHT ANSWER THIS, FINANCIAL SECRETARY. OF COURSE WITHIN THE WORKS BRANCH AND THE WORKS DEPARTMENTS THERE ARE ALREADY COMPUTER SYSTEMS IN USE. THE PLANNING WHICH IS GOING ON AT THE MOMENT IS TO ENSURE THAT THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE OF THE WORKS GROUP OF DEPARTMENTS THEIR PRESENT COMPUTER SYSTEMS ARE ALL COMPATIBLE, THAT THEY ARE ALL BASICALLY
WORKING FROM THE SAME PLATFORM, SO THAT THE INFORMATION IS COMPLETELY INTERCHANGEABLE. THAT OF COURSE MEANS THAT WE AT THE WORKS BRANCH AND FINANCE BRANCH CAN TAKE AN OVERVIEW USING THAT CONSISTENCY OF INFORMATION. WE EXPECT BY THE MIDDLE OF THIS COMING YEAR ΤΟ HAVE ADVANCED TO A POINT WHERE WE CAN SEE WHAT ARE THE FAILINGS, IF ANY, WITHIN THE PRESENT SYSTEM, AND THEN I WILL BE MAKING RECOMMENDATIONS AS TO WHAT WE SHOULD BE PUTTING INTO PLACE IN THE WAY OF HARDWARE SOFTWARE, TO ENHANCE OUR PRESENT CAPABILITY.
AND
FS:
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
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L