Cabinet Office written question – answered at on 23 January 2014.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office
(1) what estimate he has made of the number of websites charging for access to Government online services in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement;
(2) if he will take steps to enable the Competition and Markets Authority to be able to take enforcement action on websites found to be charging for access to online Government services irrespective of whether a disclaimer statement is deployed;
(3) what cross-departmental Ministerial meetings he has held since October 2013 relating to websites charging for access to Government online services; if he will report on the progress of the review being led by the Government Digital Service; and how many complaints were received by his Department in each month since October 2013.
I have regular meetings with my ministerial colleagues but it has been the practice of successive Administrations that details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.
Officials in the Government Digital Service (GDS) are leading a cross-Government exercise to gather information about the operation of third-party websites offering services associated with official Government services. This research will guide our work to address the issue and the Government's engagement with the internet search, engine providers that carry advertisements for the services of these unofficial providers.
Where Government have become aware of websites that make misleading claims in their advertising it has brought these complaints to the attention of the Advertising Standards Authority. Government have and continues to take direct action to prevent the misuse of Government logos or any suggestion of affiliation with Government by these websites.
From 2014, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will be taking over many of the functions and responsibilities of the Competition Commission and the Office of Fair Trading. The CMA is an independent body.
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