§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the cost of the partnership with Knowsley local authority to introduce e-mail links through digital television. [18984]
§ Mr. McCartneyThe Department secured £1.9 million from the Treasury Invest to Save fund to run a two year iDTV for the pensions project starting in April 2001. The original intention was to deliver a local pilot, partnering Knowsley local authority. However, we decided on a national pilot and have partnered with Inland Revenue to deliver information and services through satellite and cable iDTV providers to approximately 7 million users across Great Britain. The pilot service, which will be evaluated, is due to be launched in the spring of 2002 and will run for an initial one year period. Further developments beyond the pilot period will be dependent on the pilot evaluation findings.