§ Lord Beaumont of Whitleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will follow the example of Canada in placing the country's reservoir of environmental information on Internet.
§ The Minister of State, Department of the Environment (Viscount Ullswater)We are very interested in exploring the possibilities offered by Internet publishing for providing information of all types. The Government Centre for Information Systems (CCTA) has recently set up the Government Information System, which provides space for central and local government and other public bodies to publish information on the Internet. The Department of the Environment provides some information, including all departmental press notices.
The department and CCTA are involved in an exercise to assess the value of publication on the Internet, and officials are looking at how best to proceed.