§ Dr. CableTo ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps she has taken to benchmark the extent of on-line Government services in the United Kingdom against other countries, with particular reference to the US and Australia. [105187]
§ Mr. Ian McCartneyThe Government are very keen to learn from good examples of international electronic service delivery. There are a number of very interesting examples of developments in this area not just in the USA and Australia, but in other countries. We intend to publish a report in the summer that will set out the results of our research and indicate what lessons we can learn from exemplars of international best practice.
§ Dr. CableTo ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps Her Majesty's Government have taken to introduce the use of the Internet for(a) VAT payment, (b) passport renewal, (c) renewal of television licenses, (d) renewal of vehicle licences and (e) Government procurement contracts; and what targets exist for Internet based transactions in these areas. [105249]
§ Mr. Ian McCartneyAs part of our Modernising Government programme we announced in our Action Plan, published in July 1999, that we would provide six-monthly reports on our progress in delivering Government services electronically. The second of these reports was recently published on the Central Information Technology Unit (CITU) website (http://www.citu.gov.uk). Copies of these reports are available in the Libraries of the House.
I refer the hon. Gentleman to my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Warrington, North (Helen Jones), on 17 January 2000, Official Report, column 276W.