To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the development of MINIS in his Department since its inception; and what proposals he has for its further development.

My Department is currently engaged on the 13th round of MINIS returns and reviews. Since I introduced the system in 1980, there have been many detailed changes over the years in the way material is collected and presented. In the early rounds, the emphasis was on establishing the full range of functions being undertaken within the Department and the staff and other costs related to each. The next stage of development was to include better defined aims, objectives and targets in order to clarify what was being achieved and to ensure that these achievements fully supported Government policies and priorities. The most recent developments have concentrated on making MINIS more useful as a system for top management and Ministers, which has entailed the development of supporting line management systems at all levels through the Department; and on considering the allocation of administrative resources alongside the setting of objectives and targets, to ensure that resources are in the right place to do the job.MINIS returns are published after each round and a copy is placed in the Library of the House. Copies of MINIS 13 returns will be made available in the same way in due course.