Written question asked by Judy Mallaber (Labour) on Monday, 22 March 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 25 March 2010. It was answered by Alan Campbell (Labour) on Monday, 29 March 2010 on behalf of the Home Office.

Departmental Internet

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will advise Ministerial colleagues on steps to take to ensure that access to known child abuse sites is not possible from computers on departmental networks.

Answer: [holding answer 25 March 2010]: The Government take the prevention of access to such images very seriously. We believe that Government should take all effective measures, such as the use of criteria in contracts, to ensure that Departments only buy internet services from suppliers that take the Internet Watch Foundation list. The changes to the OGC conditions to ensure that suppliers do this, as set out in their recent Procurement Policy Note, should be used by Departments to help them select their suppliers.

Secondary information