Written question asked by Robert Key (Conservative) on Wednesday, 22 March 2000, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 27 March 2000. It was answered by Lord Allan of Hallam (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 27 March 2000 on behalf of the Information Committee.

Information Select Committee

Question: To ask the Chairman of the Information Committee, if he will reintroduce the screen-based Polis III system for honourable Members and their staff in addition to the browser interface.

Answer: Mr. Key: To ask the Chairman of the Information Committee if he will reintroduce the screen-based Polis III system for hon. Members and their staff in addition to the browser interface. [116347] Mr. Allan: This is an operational matter falling within the remit of the Library and the Parliamentary Communications Directorate (PCD). I am advised that the decision to withdraw screen-based access to POLIS for the majority of PDVN users was implemented by PCD and the Library in order to comply with Parliament's IT convergence strategy. The cost of providing millennium compliant terminal emulation software to all PDVN users could not be justified, compared with the benefits of developing the browser-based version. The Library's POLIS development programme is now focused on that service. Future plans include active hypertext links to the text of the Official Report and other parliamentary publications in electronic format, and advanced search capability. I gather that screen-based POLIS is still available via one of the public access PCs in the Official Publications Library. I have asked the Librarian to investigate whether it could also be placed on the PCs in the Members Library.

Secondary information