HC Deb 29 April 1981 vol 3 c401W
51. Mr. Chapman

asked the Minister for the Civil Service if he will review the pricing policy for Her Majesty's Stationery Office publications.

Mr. Hayhoe

A review has recently been completed. It has endorsed Her Majesty's Stationery Office's present policy of pricing their publications so as to recover—apart fromHansard, for which there is a special Government grant—all the costs of producing, publishing and selling them, and to achieve the financial target set for Her Majesty's Stationery Office trading fund. The alternative would be for the taxpayer to meet the costs of underpricing. Recent steep increases in some areas are the consequence primarily of recovery from past underpricing and the identification for the first time of full costs. Within this overall policy, however, the prices now being charged by Her Majesty's Stationery Office for most one two page publications will be held at their present level for at least 18 months and more flexible arrangements will be introduced for settling the prices of important publications.