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1.30 pm

The Minister for Small Firms, Trade and Industry (Mrs. Barbara Roche): I start by welcoming the hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham (Mrs. Gillan) to her new responsibilities on the Opposition Front Bench. I had hoped to have the great pleasure of doing so during last week's important debate on small retail businesses, but the hon. Lady was not in her place and I understand from the Conservative Whips that they could not find her. Sadly, her voice could not be heard last week, but I am delighted that we have had the great privilege of hearing her speak today.

It has been an extremely important debate and we have heard some excellent speeches. Unfortunately, it was marred by the speech of the hon. Member for Sevenoaks (Mr. Fallon) who, in every aspect of his delivery, demonstrated why his party lost the election. Whenever arrogance is mentioned in the Chamber, the phrase used by my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade comes to mind. She said that the Opposition have a degree in arrogance that surpasses all. We shall certainly take no lessons from them in delivering what the British people expect and hope from the new Government.

We have heard several important speeches. The hon. Member for Esher and Walton (Mr. Taylor) was a Minister who made a great contribution to the subject. His speech covered a number of important aspects. My hon. Friend the Member for Rotherham (Mr. MacShane) stressed the importance of simple language and conveyed in his speech the message of information technology for all. My hon. Friend the Member for Norwich, North (Dr. Gibson) dealt with the importance of new technology to biomedicine and the necessity to ensure that all professions benefit from IT.

I was saddened, however, by some of the comments by the hon. Member for South Dorset (Mr. Bruce), although he made a number of important points about electronic commerce. Of course he has a distinguished record as the chairman of PITCOM. It was sad that his speech was marred by straying into inaccuracies and leaving the subject of the debate.

I congratulate the hon. Member for Cheltenham (Mr. Jones) who made some important comments about rural areas which were greatly appreciated.

The Government embark on their term of office at a crucial period for information technology, electronics and communications. It is an exciting time, as we move into

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the new millennium, but we are moving into the information age at a speed that is baffling to many, and our understanding of the precise implications for the way in which we live and work and the way in which we enjoy our leisure hours ranges from intelligent guesses to the complete inaccurate.

We have only to consider what stabs at the future we might have made five or even three years ago. Most of us would have got it wrong. For example, many experts failed to predict the meteoric rise in the use of the Internet--even over a 12-month period. Much has been made--this was mentioned by the hon. Member for South Dorset--of regulation of the Internet. I certainly agree with the point made by the hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham on the subject.

The Government, like their predecessors, will certainly work to ensure that the system that has been put in place, which includes Internet watch, which is based on the law of the land, will continue. I raised the issue when I represented the United Kingdom recently in the European Union Telecoms Council. Of course, we need to have a wide-ranging discussion not only here in the UK but with our international partners. The subject is important for us all.

We are now coming to terms with the reality of networks that link us globally. The process is not quite as easy as making a telephone call, but the technology is getting there. With the approach of digital satellite and digital television and the interactive services that they will make available to a wide range of people, the day is fast approaching when the technologies and the benefits that they bring will be available for all and will make a significant contribution to improving the quality of life.

A number of hon. Members, including, of course, my hon. Friend the Minister of State, have emphasised the importance of avoiding a division in the nation of information haves and information have-nots. Indeed, the hon. Member for Cheltenham made that very important point. We need to ensure that everybody is able to take advantage of the information society. In fact, there will not be a true information society until everybody is able to make use of it.

The IT for all initiative is therefore particularly important, given its focus on access to technologies in local, convenient and unintimidating environments, enabling people to have hands-on experience and to try out what is best for them in a friendly atmosphere. What do I mean by this?

As I am sure hon. Members will be well aware, the IT for all projects include travelling computer buses run in co-operation with the private sector, which offer opportunities for all to get hands-on experience. Family technology evenings, which are supported by Microsoft, open up opportunities for parents and the wider community in schools and other community bases. As the parent of an eight-year-old, I know that it is us parents who are learning from our eight-year-olds--and even younger--about where the new technology is taking us.

If any hon. Member has doubts about just what information and communications technologies can do for all sections of the community, I draw their attention to a group of EU projects in which we are involved, which help the disabled and the elderly. I was rather taken aback that the hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham appeared to knock the support given to such projects.

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They are important because they bring about the involvement of everybody in the information revolution that is about to happen.

Such projects give people with learning difficulties user-friendly access to e-mail and the Internet through specially designed interfaces and the use of symbols. A portable controller and associated software are being developed to enable disabled people to communicate with their surroundings and control temperature and lighting.

I was in Bavaria about a month ago looking at some good British modern design and techniques, which have come from universities but are looking for commercial adaption. The equipment will help severely disabled people to live their lives freely and independently. Those are the great advantages that the information revolution can bring.

Mrs. Gillan: I hope that I misheard the hon. Lady. She seemed to suggest that I was casting aspersions on projects for the disabled. It was quite the reverse. I was casting aspersions on the Labour party's philosophy, "We will govern for the many, not the few." It is the few who are disabled. Along the lines of that maxim, the Labour party should not be concerned with them. It should be concerned only with the largest number of people.

Will the Minister now answer the question that I have repeatedly asked about the Disability Discrimination Act?

Mrs. Roche: I am absolutely astonished to hear the hon. Lady's intervention. The best way that I can describe it is as nonsense. Of course it is the Government's job to govern for everybody and, in doing so, we shall ensure that disabled people have access to information technology. That is vital. The hon. Lady was a Minister in the previous Government who disappointed disabled people time and again. It has been left up to this new Labour Government to ensure that we deliver proper support and enablement to people with disabilities.

Mrs. Gillan: Will the Minister answer my question?

Mrs. Roche: If the hon. Lady has a little patience--I know that it has been a whirlwind two and a half months and she is still recovering from her party's defeat at the last election--all will come to her in time. A little patience and humility from the hon. Lady would be extremely welcome.

We also have a project to help physically disabled people--[Interruption.] If the hon. Lady would listen, she would learn what is happening out there for disabled people and could then make a more substantial contribution to the debate.

As I was saying, the project will help physically disabled people who cannot speak to communicate by developing a device with pre-stored conversational sequences, which can be tailored to the individual over time. [Interruption.] I am sorry that the hon. Lady finds such projects amusing. Many disabled people, many of whom will be following our deliberations, consider it important that we have a proper discussion about those projects.

Mrs. Gillan: I regard this subject as most important, but the Minister has not replied to the question that I have posed over and again. Is she incapable of answering it or

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does she not have an answer? Have her officials been unable to find the information in the short period that they have had? Will the Minister be straight with us? Are Ministers going to sit on the Front Bench and never answer questions directly but just exchange insults across the Dispatch Box? Answer the question about the Disability Discrimination Act: when will the second part be implemented? Does the Minister know, or even care?

Mrs. Roche: It is difficult to know how to respond. This debate is about the information society, part of which is the ability to listen. The hon. Lady has not had much experience of that during the past 18 years.

Another project is to develop standard guidelines for the production of signing books for the deaf and to study the consequent storage and distribution issues. The Government will follow those important projects extremely carefully.

We have heard a great deal in the debate about the United Kingdom's information technology, electronics and communications industry, and about the readiness of the UK's communications infrastructure for the information age. The industry makes a substantial contribution to the UK's GDP. It provides considerable employment and is a source of much innovation and enterprise. It is the kind of industry where the UK can add considerable value and, as a result, compete successfully world wide. The new Government very much support that.

The coming months will see some exciting new developments. In particular, I shall be following closely the development of the newly announced investment by Microsoft in Cambridge, and the associated venture capital fund for small companies. A great deal has gone on in that area, such as the St. John's innovation centre and the business angel networks.


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