§ Mr. Sheermanasked the Secretary of State for Employment what powers he has to instruct Manpower Services Commission staff on the particular form of layout for their correspondence.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonUnder the Employment and Training Act 1973, the commission has a duty to give effect to directions given it by the Secretary of State in relation to the performance of its functions.
§ Mr. Sheermanasked the Secretary of State for Employment which Manpower Services Commission publications take advertising; and how their rates compare with the equivalent commercial publications.
§ Mr. Peter Morrison"Newscheck", "Executive Post" and "Candidate Focus" take advertising. Precise comparisons are difficult. However, "Newscheck" charges £450 per full page, which is about in the middle of the range charged by other publications in the same market. "Executive Post" has no direct competitors other than, in the main, national daily and Sunday newspapers. It is not possible to make meaningful comparisons because advertising charges are on a different basis.
§ Mr. Sheermanasked the Secretary of State for Employment what publications there are of the Manpower Services Commission; how much they cost; and what are their circulation figures.
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§ Mr. Peter MorrisonThe information requested for regular Manpower Services Commission publications is currently as follows:
Publication Costs of Publication (per issue) £ Number of Issues per year Circulation MSC Annual Report 5,400 1 12,000 MSC Corporate Plan 6,200 1 7,000 Labour Market Quarterly Review 1,700 4 5,500 New Outlook (on employing disabled people) 11,000 3.4 80,000 Youth Training News 7,500 10 51,000 Community Programme News 5,200 6 40,000 Open Technical News 7,500 4 38,000 Newscheck (Careers and Occupational Information Centre) 2,050 11 27,000 Executive Post (PER) * 130,000 Candidate Focus (PER) * 30,000 Mosaic (MSC staff newspaper) 1,100 12 22,000 * The publication costs of "Executive Post" and "Candidate Focus" are regarded by the commission as commercial 'in confidence.'