§ Mr. Matherasked the Minister for the Civil Service what criteria must obtain before a national newspaper is used by Government Departments as a vehicle for official notices or advertisements.
§ Mr. Charles R. MorrisUnder normal circumstances a national newspaper cannot be considered for these purposes unless it provides independently audited figures of its United Kingdom circulation. Once these figures are available, the cost of buying space is taken into account and the newspaper is ranked on a cost-efficiency basis showing its cost per 1,000 circulation in comparison with other publications. Depending upon the budget296W availability of any particular campaign and its targets in terms of coverage and frequency, a selection is made of those publications which are most cost efficient in meeting the campaign requirements.
§ Mr. Onslowasked the Minister for the Civil Service what weight he gives in assessing the suitability of publications for Government advertising to the proportion of their circulation which goes overseas.
§ Mr. Charles R. MorrisPublications in which Government advertising campaigns are run are selected on the basis of their cost-efficiency in reaching the specified target audience in comparison with alternative media choices. With very minor exceptions, these are directed at audiences in the United Kingdom, so it is only United Kingdom circulation figures with which we are concerned.