HC Deb 09 May 1994 vol 243 cc6-7W
Mr. David Shaw

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans his Department has(a) to utilise the Internet, (b) to make available on the Internet press releases and other departmental information which the public may wish to have access to and (c) to use the Internet as a means of increasing the openness of his Department.

Mr. Nelson

The Treasury is planning to use the Internet for the exchange of electronic mail.

Press releases issued by the Treasury are distributed by the Central Office of Information through its news distribution service—NDS. The NDS advises that:

  1. (i) Most Government press releases issued electronically via NDS are accessible to users of the Internet via Data-Star Dialog (Europe) or Mead/Lexis/Nexis.
  2. (ii) It is up to the "hosts", i.e. the organisations who hold databases of Government press releases, to negotiate 7 access via the Internet. Neither the COI nor its Government clients can insist on this, as there are commercial and security implications that only the "hosts" can decide upon.

The use of the Internet is one of a number of options being examined for increasing openness.