AQW 16221/17-22

Ms Claire Sugden
Independent
East Londonderry

Tabled Date: 11/03/2021
Answered On Date: 24/03/2021
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Finance to detail the amount of money spent in the last year by public sector bodies on equipment to enable staff to work from home.

Answer:

Between March 2020 and March 2021 the Department of Finance has spent £5,065,368 to facilitate working from home for civil servants and those arm’s length bodies who are supported by Digital Shared Services (DSS).

The cost is in support of increased internet bandwidth (£50,000), IT equipment (£4,310,113) and software (£705,255).

It is not possible for the Department of Finance to break these figures down by each Department as some of these costs are shared infrastructure across DSS customers and some equipment has been purchased for stock to meet future requests.