§ Mr. Laurence RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the use of smart card technology in her Department and in the areas for which it is responsible; and what discussions she has had with private companies about the use of smart card technology within her Department. [50472]
§ Clare ShortMy officials keep under constant review the progress with smart card technology and in early 2001 they held extensive discussions with a range of private companies in preparation for introducing appropriate systems to our office. We installed and commissioned a fast lane smart card system in November 2001 in our 1 Palace street office and will be utilising the same technology following an upgrade of our Abercrombie House office in East Kilbride, which will commence later this year.
We keep under review expansion of our systems to take advantage of the potential benefits that smart card technology can bring.