§ Mr. Richard Wainwrightasked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection what is the target audience for his Department's "Consumer Information Bulletin".
§ Mr. MaclennanThe target audience is those working in the field of consumer advice and opinion formers and commentators who are in a position to communicate to individuals with particular problems, factual information about the statutory protection available to help them and what steps they should take to make use of it.
§ Mr. Richard Wainwrightasked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection if he will list in the Official Report the number of copies of each respective issue of his Department's 194W "Consumer Information Bulletin" that have been distributed.
§ Mr. MaclennanFigures for the first 12 issues are not available, but the first issue dated January-February 1973 is known to have been about 1,800 copies, and the circulation has increased steadily. Figures for the issues since January-February 1975 are as follows:
Issue No. Copies January-February 1975 13 5,500 March-April 14 5,500 May 15 5,500 July-August 16 5,500 September 17 7,000 October 18 8,000 November 19 8,000 December 20 8,000 January 1976 21 8,500 February-March 22 8,500 April-May 23 8,500 June 24 8,750 July 25 8,800 August 26 8,800 September 27 8,800 October 28 9,300 November 29 9,300 December 30 9,300 January 1977 31 9,600
§ Mr. Richard Wainwrightasked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection what persons and groups are automatically circulated with his Department's "Consumer Information Bulletin".
§ Mr. MaclennanThe bulletin circulation list has been built up mainly in response to requests over the four years since its inception. The list now includes consumer advice centres, citizens' advice bureaux, national consumer groups, consumer journalists, trade union journals, the legal and social studies departments of various universities and colleges, and lecturers and advisers in home economics as well as international consumer experts and organisations.
§ Mr. Richard Wainwrightasked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection what has been the cost of producing each respective issue of his Department's "Consumer Information Bulletin".
§ Mr. MaclennanSince the editor, the typists and those who handle the printing and distribution do not work full time on the bulletin, it would require a disproportionate amount of time and effort to estimate the staff costs involved. But for 195W the two most recent issues the cost of printing alone was £620 for No. 30, December 1976, and £785 for No. 31, January 1977.
§ Mr. Richard Wainwrightasked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection how many issues of the "Consumer Information Bulletin" his Department intend to produce during 1977.
§ Mr. MaclennanThe bulletin is normally issued monthly and there are expected to be 10–12 issues in 1977.
§ Mr. Richard Wainwrightasked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection who is responsible for planning and editing his Department's "Consumer Protection Bulletin".
§ Mr. MaclennanThe "Consumer Information Bulletin" is planned and edited by a single member of my Department's Information Branch, who undertakes this as one of her several duties.
§ Mr. Richard Wainwrightasked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection if he will list in the Official Report the number of pages contained in each respective issue of his Department's "Consumer Information Bulletin".
§ Mr. MaclennanAs follows:
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Pages 1 January-February 1973 8 2 March-April 1973 8 3 May-June 1973 8 4 August 1973 17 5 November 1973 4 6 January 1974 5 7 April 1974 11 8 June 1974 16 9 July 1974 24 10 August 1974 15 11 October 1974 11 12 December 1974 18 13 January-February 1975 18 14 March-April 1975 22 15 May 1975 24 16 July-August 1975 26 17 September 1975 24 18 October 1975 36 19 November 1975 27 20 December 1975 32 21 January 1976 32 22 February-March 1976 36 23 April-May 1976 28 24 June 1976 28 25 July 1976 33 26 August 1976 28 27 September 1976 26 28 October 1976 26 29 November 1976 28 30 December 1976 24 31 January 1977 28
§ Mr. Richard Wainwrightasked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection what was the total cost of distributing issue No. 31 of his Department's "Consumer Information Bulletin".
§ Mr. MaclennanIssue No. 31–9,600 copies—was distributed by post and by Government transport services. Some copies are sent in bulk, some singly. It would require a disproportionate amount of staff time to estimate the total cost, especially as some copies are distributed together with material from other Departments.
§ Mr. Richard Wainwrightasked the Secretary of State for Prices and Con-summer Protection how many members of his Department's staff were employed in producing the "Consumer Information Bulletin" (a) when the first issue was published and (b) when issue No. 31 was published.
§ Mr. MaclennanThe first issue of the Bulletin was published in 1973 before my Department was established. The first issue to be published after my Department was set up was dated April 1974. Then, as now, one member of my Department's Information Branch was in charge of editing the bulletin as one of her several duties.