§ Mr. Tony Banksasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what are the criteria by which a publication is registered by the Post Office as a newspaper; and what publications have lost their registration in recent years and for what reasons.
§ Mr. Kenneth BakerRegistration of publications as newspapers by the Post Office is a matter for the corporation. The criteria and procedure for registration are set out in the "Post Office Guide", a copy of which is available in the Library. I understand that each year the Post Office checks all newspapers to ensure that they satisfy the criteria, and in recent years about 70 newspapers have lost registration. A current list of registered newspapers is available from the postal marketing department of the Post Office, but only limited records are maintained in respect of earlier periods.