asked the Secretary of State for Industry what new changes have been made to relieve the burden of form filling on small firms.
I am happy to announce three decisions that will result in further valuable reductions in the form-filling burden affecting the production industries. A restructuring of the system of quarterly inquiries into manufacturers' sales will achieve a reduction of 28,000 per annum in the number of forms sent out and consequential savings of some £1½ million in manpower costs at the business statistics office. A wider use of sampling in the annual census of production will produce a further annual saving of over 10,000 forms and £125,000 in manpower costs.In both these cases the reduction in the form-filling burden will accrue to smaller firms. Thirdly, there will be an appreciable reduction in the number of questions included in the annual minerals inquiry form. An effective service to Government and industry will be maintained.