§ Mr. Michael Forsythasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer which division of Her Majesty's Stationery Office is responsible for contract printing work for non-government bodies.
§ Mr. HayhoePrint procurement.
§ Mr. Michael Forsythasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer why Her Majesty's Stationery Office tendered for the printing of the ASH Scottish Committee book "The Scottish Epidemic"; whether it was known at the time that the work would have to be subcontracted out; and what inquiries were made to ensure that the contract would not show a loss.
§ Mr. HayhoeThe Scottish health education group invited Her Majesty's Stationery Office to tender for the printing of this book; it was known that the work would be subcontracted out. HMSO procedures ensure that it does not make a loss on this type of work, including this contract.
§ Mr. Michael Forsythasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in calculating the comparisons with trade sources quoted in paragraph 3 of "Price Comparisons" on page 23 of Her Majesty's Stationery Office accounts 1981–82, what allowance was made for the discounts on published prices normally available to large-scale customers.
§ Mr. HayhoeNone. All comparisons exclude discounts.
§ Mr. Michael Forsythasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what basis Her Majesty's Stationery Office chose the public sector suppliers 1 and 2 and the private sector suppliers 1 and 2 quoted in paragraph 2 of "Price Comparisons" on page 23 of their 1981–1982 accounts.
§ Mr. HayhoeThe criteria adopted were that:
- (a) both trade and public sector suppliers should provide items of a similar range and quality as HMSO;
- (b) trade suppliers should have a national organisation offering standard prices throughout the United Kingdom;
- (c) public sector suppliers should have a large enough centralised purchasing power to enable fair comparisons to be made.