§ Mrs. Anne CampbellTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects to be able to receive and respond to communications via electronic mail.
§ Mr. BaldryThe Foreign and Commonwealth Office has work under way to allow the exchange of documents by electronic mail within the Department. Such a service is already available within the Overseas Development Administration.
The Department is investigating the use of the Internet to allow more extensive public access. It is likely an FCO presence will be established on the Internet via the CCTA computer later this year. It will allow the dissemination of FCO-ODA material in the first instance. Public electronic mail access to the Department will be considered after experience has been gained with the initial trials.