§ Mr. YeoTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what(a) products, (b) goods and (c) services were (i) bought and (ii) sold online by his Department in each of the last five years. [97439]
§ Mr. McCartneyThe Department introduced electronic procurement in April 1997 for forms and leaflets direct from contract suppliers. Stationery and computer consumables, paper and general office products were added in April 2001.
Jobcentre Plus has used online processes for travel services and hotel and conference facilities from April 1998. It is intended to pilot these commodities to the rest of DWP beginning June 2003.
The Department also has a number publications, for example research reports, that can be viewed online. Hard copies of these reports have been available for purchase by members of the public and organisations through the Department's web site since July 2001.