To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which websites his Department’s staff are prevented from accessing on departmental networked computers. (311469)

The DCSF Corporate IT System accesses the internet via the Government Secure Intranet (GSI) service as provided by Cable and Wireless and complies with the provisions of the GSI code of connection (as required by mandatory requirement 39 of the HMG Security Policy Framework). In order to assist with this compliance, DCSF utilises SurfControl’s Web Filter to prevent access to undesirable websites. This software provides a list of categories to be blocked and URLs of sites within the category are updated on a daily basis. There are a small number of casual and contract staff who are not permitted any internet access. However, the majority of DCSF staff are allowed access to the internet subject to the following restrictions:

DCSF blocks access to the following categories:

Adult/Sexually Explicit

Intolerance and Hate

Criminal Activity

Violence

Weapons

Gambling

Spy ware

Hacking

In addition, a small number of individual websites have also been blocked for a variety of technical and policy related reasons.