§ Mr. Porterasked the Secretary of State for Defence how many official forms are issued by his Department; and how this compares with 1979.
§ Mr. PattieThe total number of forms issued to the public and businesses is not recorded. My Department currently has about 600 different types of forms which are for use by the public or businesses; corresponding figures for 1979 are not available. However, in the first year following the publication of "Administrative Forms in Government" (Cmnd. 8504) in February 1982, all of my Department's centrally registered forms were reviewed and 37 forms used by the public or businesses were abolished. The review of forms used by Government is continuing. Figures relating to progress from February this year to April 1984 should be available in May next year.