§ Mr. Laurence RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on the use of smart card technology in his Department and in the areas for which it is responsible; and what discussions he has had with private companies about the use of smart card technology within his Department. [50482]
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WhiteheadDr. [holding answer 16 April 2002]: My Department does not use smart cards at present although a contactless magnetic card is used for buildings entry in London and elsewhere. We are considering the use of a single smart card with encryption for identification of individuals for access to and authorisation of a range of e-services and buildings access. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency will be issuing smart cards as part of the EU-wide "Smart Tachograph" project. DVLA is reviewing other uses for a personal smart card such as a driver licence possibly with other identification-based applications such as travel rights within the EU.
We are sponsoring pilot card projects in local authorities as part of the local government on-line programme and a number of LAs and passenger transport executives are using local transport plan funds for smart card schemes in transport particularly for ticketing. We have sponsored the development of card standards for transport so that as far as possible applications can be interoperable between different LAs and PTEs to ensure seamless travel and through ticketing. We may launch other initiatives once the Office of the e-Envoy has issued its smart card policy paper.
It is not the normal practice of the Government to release details of discussions with private individuals or companies. However Departmental officials have been involved in a number of discussions with companies, either individually or at meetings of organisations such as the Transport Card Forum or the Integrated Transport Smart Card Organisation, as part of the planning for the projects noted above.