PDVN: Written Answers (Hansard, 29 March 1999)

§ The Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Lord Falconer of Toronton)
My Lords, we are making steady progress. Nineteen departments and agencies are now able to e-mail the Parliamentary Data and Video Network using the Government Secure Intranet. However, although very useful, e-mail alone is not suitable for Written Answers, as neither the time of receipt nor the identity of the sender can be guaranteed. Bespoke software which overcomes this deficiency using a server-to-server link has been developed, and a programme of installation, testing and refinement is in progress. I expect a small number of Questions to be answered electronically on a trial basis before the Summer Recess.

Lord Lucas
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for that Answer, but it is a great deal slower progress than the noble Lord, Lord McIntosh of Haringey, seemed to indicate that we might be making many months ago. It seems extraordinary that the Government, who claim such technological competence and to be so up to date, should be unable to reply to an e-mail and to make sufficient provision for e-mail replies in two years of asking. They seem to have complicated the question beyond recognition. We need to be able to have copies of Written Answers by e-mail so that we can include them in our files. Why is that beyond the competence of the Government?

§ Lord Falconer of Thoroton
My Lords, it is not outside the competence of the Government. The problem with e-mail is that one cannot determine the time of receipt. In order to prove that, we sent the noble Lord an e-mail this morning. We cannot say what time it arrived and he has not yet acknowledged receipt of it. We are trying to overcome that. Using a server-to-server system can be a means of providing Answers to Parliamentary Questions.

§ Lord Mackie of Benshie
My Lords, how long does it take to answer a Written Question and what advantage is there in an e-mail Answer?

§ Lord Falconer of Thoroton
My Lords, the time that it takes to answer a Written Question varies from department to department. I can see that e-mail could provide a nice back-up way of getting information.

§ Lord Avebury
My Lords, do the Minister and his colleagues in the Government welcome 9 correspondence by e-mail? If so, could they publish their e-mail addresses in an easily accessible form, such as in the Palace of Westminster telephone directory?

§ Lord Falconer of Thoroton
My Lords, many ministerial e-mail addresses are published in readily accessible form. I am not sure whether they are in the guide to which the noble Lord referred, but I shall look into it.

§ Lord Monkswell
My Lords, bearing in mind that Questions for Written Answer from Members of this House to the Government may be of great interest to individual Members but that they are also a mechanism for holding the Government to account, and that Answers are now published on the internet as well as in Hansard, because of Hansard's input into the internet, should not such a development be welcomed?

§ Lord Falconer of Thoroton
My Lords, I am grateful for those remarks. However, we shall, of course, continue to publish all Written Answers in the paper form of Hansard.

§ Lord Mackay of Ardbrecknish
My Lords, I wonder whether the Minister can help me with regard to Parliamentary Answers to Written Questions. Are the Government satisfied that giving a Parliamentary Answer by referring a noble Lord to a website address is a suitable and proper Answer to a Written Question in your Lordships' House?

§ Lord Falconer of Thoroton
My Lords, I am not sure to what Question the noble Lord is referring. Whether or not the Answer is suitable depends very much on the Question.

§ Lord Mackay of Ardbrecknish
My Lords, as we have a little time, may I refresh the noble and learned Lord's memory? He answered a Question from me by simply referring me to a website rather than answering the Question as asked.

§ Lord Falconer of Thoroton
My Lords, my memory is more fallible than that of the noble Lord. I am not sure to what Question he is referring, but if he will draw my attention to it, I shall immediately write and explain why I answered in that way.

Lord Lucas
My Lords, as the noble Lord, Lord Monkswell, pointed out, Written Answers are published in Hansard on the internet. All that is required from the Government—all that I am asking of the Government—is that they throw a switch and a copy appears in my mailbox. That does not require more than a moment's thought by somebody. Surely the Government need not take two years to say "yes" to that.

§ Lord Falconer of Thoroton
My Lords, we are doing more than just providing an e-mail Answer. We 10 are trying to find a means whereby we can time the Answer and also have it as an actual way of answering the Question.