§ Mr. Georgeasked the Minister for the Civil Service what are the administrative costs of the Central Office of Information, and, in particular, what are the costs of the domestic operation, known as the "COI run", which involves sending all departmental handouts to every newspaper every day.
§ Mr. ChannonThe provision for the salaries and general administrative expenses of the Central Office of Information in the current financial year 1980–81 is £11,752,900. The estimated gross costs for 1980 of the news distribution service, which delivers press material from Government Departments and other official bodies on five days a week either on general press circulation or to specialist correspondents as required, is £186,700.