§ 43. Mr. Sydney Irvingasked the Secretary to the Treasury what Press clippings service is maintained by the Central Office of Information; which fields this covers; and how many staff are involved.
§ The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Sir Edward Boyle)No central Press cutting service is maintained: but the regional offices of the Central Office of Information supply Departments with cuttings from local newspapers. No staff is exclusively employed on this work.
§ Mr. IrvingIs not the Financial Secretary aware that he rejected the suggestion I made in February to negotiate the purchase of the News Chronicle Press clippings service because he said that the Central Office of Information arrangements were adequate for the twenty-four Government Departments and the House of Commons Library? In view of his Answer today, is the hon. Gentleman still satisfied with that previous Answer, and will he not look at this again?
§ Sir E. BoyleI thought that the hon. Gentleman might raise that point, but, in fact, my two Answers can easily be reconciled. Most Departments have a special staff for dealing with cuttings on a daily basis, but look to the Central Office of Information for coverage of provincial newspapers and so on. I believe that the present system does work satisfactorily; I have made inquiries into this since the hon. Gentleman put down his original Question.