§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence through what mechanisms his Department monitors the quantity of its internal paperwork. [24610]
§ Mr. FreemanMy Department has no formal mechanism to monitor the quantity of its internal paperwork, nor would it be easy to develop such a mechanism. None the less, the Department is keen to ensure that staff are encouraged to generate no more paperwork than is absolutely necessary to achieve departmental objectives.
As part of the Department's campaign to improve working practices, described in the essay on the "New Working Culture" on page 94 of SDE 1995, new guidelines are to be issued to staff on preparing and circulating written work. In due course, one measure of 147W the effectiveness of this campaign should be a reduction in the amount of paper consumed.