§ Mr. AustinTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the impact on the development of e-commerce of separate charges made by banks for internet purchases; and if he will make a statement. [99879]
§ Dr. HowellsThe Government are committed to the rapid development of e-commerce in the UK. Our policy is to make the UK the best place in the world for e-commerce by 2002. To help us achieve this, the Prime Minister commissioned the Cabinet Office Performance and Innovation Unit, in January this year, to undertake a project that would recommend how this can be achieved. Their report—"e-commerce@its.best.uk"—was launched by the Prime Minister on 13 September. All 60 recommendations have been accepted by the Government.
In November 1998 the Chancellor of the Exchequer set up an independent review of the UK retail banking market, chaired by Don Cruickshank. In line with the recommendations in "e-commerce@its.best.uk", the issues under consideration by Don Cruickshank include the involvement of banks in payments made over the Internet. They expect to publish the results of their work in February 2000.