The decision for Lord Carter to leave his position as a minister will not affect the wholesale implementation of the Digital Britain strategy, it has been revealed.

A spokesperson for the Internet Services Providers' Association (ISPA) said that Lord Carter was made a peer - a hard offer to refuse - and with his background in telecommunications, particularly in Ofcom, it was always going to be tough to lose someone so adept.

However, the representative remained positive.

He continued: "Obviously some of these issues are quite complex so it would certainly be useful to have, as to who comes in, someone who has some prior understanding of these issues."

Despite this, it is up to internet service providers and the government to work together in putting plans into action, the ISPA spokesman added.

Commenting on the Digital Britain report, prime minister Gordon Brown said: "Digital Britain is about giving the country the tools to succeed and lead the way in the economy of the future."

More than half of small businesses (53 per cent) believe that the most important benefit of outsourcing is guaranteed response times for IT support. London-based Connect conducted the research in 2007.