§ Mr. AllenTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the approach to popularising communications and information technology adopted by Manchester city council with accessible electronic village halls for the local community; and how his Department intends to spread best practice in this area.
§ Mr. Jonathan EvansMy Department supports initiatives to enable local communities to gain access to up-to-date information and telecommunications technology. It is exactly this sort of development which 109W the Government are encouraging more widely through initiatives of broadband communications, multimedia and the Internet. Indeed, the creation of electronic village halls in Manchester was an initiative pioneered in partnership with the council by the former Government-funded Manchester/Salford city action team, which provided £157,500 towards the scheme. Projects of a similar nature could be considered for funding via the appropriate Government office through the single regeneration budget.