§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if he will make a statement on the implications for the Post Office of the Pathway Scheme; [84051]
(2) what evaluation he has made of the role of information technology in developing postal and other services in rural areas; [84054]
(3) what evaluation he has made of the benefits of the Pathway project for the viability of sub-post offices. [84052]
§ Mr. Byers[holding answers 13 May 1999]The Government today reached agreement in principle with ICL about the continuation of the Horizon project to computerise the Post Office network and automate the payment of benefits.
The changes to the Horizon project are aimed to put it on a sustainable footing for the future and allow the Post Office to move as quickly as possible to the computerisation of post office counter services.
The main elements of the agreement are:
First, we will be moving forward as planned, as quickly as possible with the automation of Post Office Counter services. For the first time ever, Post Offices will have an up to date automation platform, helping them to provide a better service to their customers, and representing a major investment in the future of the nationwide network of Post Offices.We have agreed with ICL to remove the magnetic strip benefit payment card from the project. Given the delays, this is now an outdated concept and the Banks, among others, are already moving away from magnetic strip in favour of the next generation technology—the smart card. For the future, we intend to move from the traditional paper-based methods of payment to a more modern and efficient way of paying benefits through the Post Office network, building on banking technology. POCL and DSS/BA will be working together on plans to introduce the new arrangements in 2003. The Government can give an assurance that those benefit recipients who wish to collect their benefits in cash at Post Offices will continue to be able to do so.In the interim, we will be using bar-coding on order books to tackle benefit fraud. This will provide savings of around £100 million a year, a saving originally promised by the last administration but not yet delivered.We and ICL believe the target of achieving the computerisation of the network of 18,000 Post Offices by the end of 2001 is more realistic. This will give customers a better service and help to secure a viable future for the network of Post Offices.