QINETIQ has been criticised in Parliament over the shutdown of the 1901 Census website.

The website remains unavailable over a month after heavy demand forced its closure and Edward Davey, the Liberal Democrat MP for Kingston and Surbiton, raised doubts in the House of Commons over QinetiQ's financial commitment to the project.

"I do not blame the Public Record Office for the failure," said Mr Davey. "If anyone should carry the can, it should be the contractor, QinetiQ, or the Lord Chancellor's department and the wider private finance initiative programme.

"QinetiQ will never do more than the contract demands. It has no wider sense of the public good and no wider duty to the public good, although the census is public information and is thus almost by definition what economists mean by a public good.

"If QinetiQ is not prepared to pay for the extra investment, it will not happen; it did not before the launch, and, worryingly, the extra investment may well not be there for the relaunch."

A QinetiQ spokesman refused to comment on the debate in Parliament but said the website would remain off-line until it had been fully tested. From February 20 there will be access from the Public Record Office.

On the issue of funding, the spokesman said: "The project is funded entirely by QinetiQ. We will recoup a level of money from the project and then return the profits to the Public Records Office for further projects, which may include digitalisation of other censuses."

Concerns have also be expressed this week over the future of QinetiQ.

West Worcestershire Conservative MP Sir Michael Spicer visited the company on Friday to discuss its future and said he is to table questions to the Government on the matter.

He said: "I was slightly disturbed to discover the future of QinetiQ is in limbo.

"It is unclear if the Govern-ment will sell it to all shareholders, most importantly including employees, or if it will sell to just one shareholder.

"It is vital that we resolve the question of ownership."

A spokesman for QinetiQ refused to comment on speculation that the company would be sold off to a private equity firm, abandoning the Government's preferred option for a flotation on the stock market.

An MoD spokesman said: "Our position that we want to seek a flotation when QinetiQ has fully developed its potential and when we can get the best value for the taxpayer. However, an interim solution could be to find a strategic investor."

Reports that several private equity funds were considering bidding for the company, including Carlyle, a US firm which boasts former Prime Minister John Major as one of its directors, have not been confirmed

The London office of Carlyle also refused to comment on the speculation.