§ 6. Mr. Paul Flynn (Newport, West)If he will set up new websites for Government information on constitutional changes affecting Scotland. [91603]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. Calum Macdonald)We are in the process of establishing a new website designed to illustrate the work of the Department. In addition, information on devolved matters is available on the Scottish Executive website.
§ Mr. FlynnI am delighted that my question resulted in such swift action.
Will my hon. Friend assure us that the new website will be more engaging and more journalistic than many of the other Government websites? I do not know whether he had a chance to meet members of a group which is devoted to the cause of increasing use of the internet by the elderly, and which operates under the intriguing name Hairnet. They rightly argue that the elderly have most to gain from the increased use of the world wide web, along with those who are housebound, disabled or infirm. If those people can be introduced to the world wide web, they will have opportunities to roam the wonderful prairies of information and find out about things as exciting as the progress of the Scottish constitution.
§ Mr. MacdonaldI should be delighted to receive further information about Hairnet, or Airnet. The website that we are developing was intended to come into operation during the next couple of weeks, but we want to have another look at it with the aim of making it a wee bit more "jazzy"—more interactive, and more useful to those who we hope will use it. It will be particularly useful to the groups mentioned by my hon. Friend, but it will also be useful to those—not just in Scotland but 112 throughout the United Kingdom—who are interested in both the operation of the constitutional settlement and the specific work of the Scotland Office.
§ Mr. Dominic Grieve (Beaconsfield)I am delighted to hear that the Scotland Office website will come back into operation after the disappearance of the Scottish Office one. Can the Minister help the House a little?
In answer to an earlier question, the Secretary of State described some of his roles—a much more modest list than the one that he gave a month ago. Will the website tell us how he carries out his job? For example, is he privy to the paper round of the Scottish Executive? Is that how he obtains his information on the day-to-day running of Scotland? Will that be on the website?
In addition, will the website identify what all his staff—that small company—are actually doing, what their remit is, what Departments they are covering, and whether they are duplicating the roles of civil servants in London, or of civil servants within the Scottish Executive? Will all that go on the website so that we can all know exactly what is happening?
§ Mr. MacdonaldThe hon. Gentleman seems to be making great play of the fact that we do not see every paper that passes round the Scottish Executive. He knows that that is the convention even within Whitehall: we do not have access to all the different papers that float around different Departments, either. Departments share papers with each other for specific purposes. The Scotland Executive shares information with us for a specific purpose as well—so that we can represent effectively the interests of the Scottish people within the United Kingdom Government, as my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State said.