§ Mr. Eggarasked the Secretary of State for Wales whether a management information and accounting system is in use in his Department; whether the information adduced is received and analysed at ministerial level; whether it is publicly available; and whether any changes are proposed in the coming year.
§ Mr. Nicholas EdwardsMy Department operates a full financial information system for voted expenditure. This system records payments against vote sub-heads and compares quarterly totals with a previously prepared expenditure profile covering the whole year. The quarterly comparison is seen by Ministers and all senior officials. It is not published, but the annual outturn of expenditure against cash limits is published in the cash limits White Paper and fuller details of the Department's expenditure are published in the annual Appropriation Accounts. Departmental running costs are the subject of an annual survey, the results of which have been published along with those of other Departments. An information system based on this survey is under development. As with the existing financial information system, it will furnish periodic reports which will be considered by Ministers and senior officials. It is hoped that the new system will begin running on an experimental basis in the coming year.