Political Literature (Hansard, 29 July 1988)

§ Mr. Ron Davies
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations are undertaken by(a) Conservative constituency associations and (b) other political groups in England and Wales with his Department, on the factual content of literature produced by them.

§ Mr. Peter Walker
Wherever I think it necessary.

§ Mr. Ron Davies
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list those occasions since June 1987, when his Department has made unsolicited official responses to literature distributed free of charge to the public by political parties in Wales; and if he will indicate for each occasion the nature of the response.

§ Mr. Peter Walker
So far as I am aware, none.

§ Mr. Ron Davies
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when his Department first obtained the copy of theCaerphilly Labour Herald issue No. 1, which formed the basis of his letter to the hon. Member for Caerphilly of 15 July.

§ Mr. Peter Walker
On 9 June 1988.

§ Mr. Ron Davies
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will place in the Library a copy of his letter of 15 July to the hon. Member for Caerphilly, together with a copy of theCaerphilly Labour Herald which was the subject of that correspondence.

§ Mr. Peter Walker
I have placed a copy of my letter in the Library of the House. It is for the hon. Gentleman to place a copy of the newsletter from his constituency Labour party in the Library of the House if he so wishes.

§ Mr. Ron Davies
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will list the issues of political literature, held by his658W Department distributed by (a) the Labour party, (b) the Conservative party, (c) Plaid Cymru and (d) the Liberals, Alliance, SLD or SDP, in each case showing that received (i) since the general election of 1987 and (ii) between the general elections of 1983 and 1987;
(2) what is his policy with respect to the purchase by his Department of literature produced by local political organisations;
(3) if it is the policy of his Department to collect systematically literature distributed by political parties in Wales.

§ Mr. Peter Walker
The Welsh Office places orders for the policy documents of the main political parties, but we do not have regular arrangements for the purchase of literature produced by local political organisations. Detailed lists of publications held could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

§ Mr. Ron Davies
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make it his policy to obtain for his Department's library all future issues of the newsletter produced by the Caerphilly constituency Labour party.

§ Mr. Peter Walker
No. We are not interested in works of fiction.

§ Mr. Ron Davies
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his estimate of the cost of Civil Service time incurred during the research by his Department into the edition of theCaerphilly Labour Herald which was the subject of his correspondence of 15 July to the hon. Member for Caerphilly.

§ Mr. Peter Walker
£5.

§ Mr. Ron Davies
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales on how many occasions since June 1987 his Department has carried out analyses of literature distributed free of charge to the public by political parties in Wales; and if he will indicate any subsequent action taken by him in each case.

§ Mr. Peter Walker
Once, when I wrote to the hon. Gentleman.

§ Mr. Ron Davies
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the cost to his Department of purchases of literature produced by political parties in Wales during 1987–88; and if he will list such purchases.

§ Mr. Peter Walker
My Department spent £240 on literature produced by the political parties in Wales last year. £235 of this was accounted for by the purchase of Welsh manifestos prior to the election for the purposes of briefing incoming Ministers.