HC Deb 02 May 2002 vol 384 cc996-7W
Mr. Yeo

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the newspapers subscribed to(a) Monday to Saturday and (b) on Sunday by his Department, stating for each subscription (i) the number of copies taken, and (ii) the annual cost. [52831]

Ms Blears

[holding answer 26 April 2002]: The newspapers subscribed to by the Department in 2002, the number of copies and the annual cost of each subscription are shown in the table.

Newspaper Monday- Friday Saturday Sunday Approx. annual cost per title (£)
Birmingham Post 3 2 331.20
Daily Mail 14 2 1,603.20
Daily Mirror 12 1 1,081.44
Daily Star 7 1 579.60
Daily Telegraph 16 6 2,452.80
Evening Standard 23 2,125.20
Express 13 2 1,255.80
Financial Times 20 6 5,568
Guardian 20 6 3,048
Independent 21 6 3,157.20
Independent on Sunday 5 288
Mail on Sunday 4 211.20
Manchester Evening News 1 276
Morning Star 3 3 792
News of the World 2 62.4
Northern Daily Echo 1 76.80
Observer 5 288
South London Press 1 19.20
Southern Daily Echo 11 276
Sun 12 1 993.60
Sunday Express 3 144
Sunday Mirror 2 62.40
Sunday People 2 62.40
Sunday Telegraph 4 192
Sunday Times 6 345.60
Times 19 6 2,299.20
Yorkshire Post 1 1 388.32
1 Friday

The approximate total annual cost is £27,980 to which suppliers apply a discount of 13.5 per cent. to some titles. This information covers central purchasing through the Department's library for library use and for retention by individual units. The figures are based on subscriptions purchased in January and February 2002, and extrapolated for 12 months to give the annual figures. Newspaper titles purchased remain fairly constant but there are variations in number of copies per title due to cancellations and new purchases.